How can I separate anonymous traffic from known traffic?

When you collect some data from visitors who don’t consent using a 30-minute cookie or no cookies, you’ll see their data mixed with data from other visitors. In this article, we’ll show you how to keep that data apart.

To create a segment for anonymous traffic, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Menu > Analytics.
  2. At the top of any open tab like Dashboards, Reports, Custom reports, Goals, or Ecommerce, you will find segments. Click the + button.
    Audience overview report in Piwik PRO
  3. Click Manage segments.
  4. Click Add a segment.
  5. Name the segment, for example, No-consent traffic.
  6. In Visibility, set: Author or All users. The All users option lets you share this segment with other teammates.
  7. If you want to have this segment available on all sites/apps, check All sites & apps.
  8. Set the following conditions connected with the OR logic operator:
    • IPv4 address equals 0.0.0.0
    • IPv6 address equals ::
    No-consent traffic in Piwik PRO

    Note: Visitors’ IP addresses are fully masked if you set up one of these options: Administration > Sites & apps > Privacy > Ask visitors for consent (on) > Collect data using a 30-minute cookie (on) or Collect data without using cookies (on). This option removes the selected number of bytes from the address before saving it to the database. Nobody will ever see the full address. Masked IP addresses look like this in reports: 0.0.0.0 or :: (short version for 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000 ). This is why you can use these conditions to filter out non-consent traffic.

  9. Click Create a segment.

To create a segment for known traffic, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Menu > Analytics.
  2. At the top of any open tab like Dashboards, Reports, Custom Reports, Goals, or Ecommerce, you will find segments. Click the + button.
  3. Click Manage segments.
  4. Click Add a segment.
  5. Name the segment, for example, Consent traffic.
  6. In Visibility, set: Author or All users. The All users option lets you share this segment with other teammates.
  7. If you want to have this segment available on all sites/apps, check All sites & apps.
  8. Set the following conditions connected with the OR logic operator:
    • IPv4 address not equals 0.0.0.0
    • IPv6 address not equals ::

    Note: Visitors’ IP addresses are fully masked if you set up one of these options: Administration > Sites & apps > Privacy > Ask visitors for consent (on) > Collect data using a 30-minute cookie (on) or Collect data without using cookies (on). This option removes the selected number of bytes from the address before saving it to the database. Nobody will ever see the full address. Masked IP addresses look like this in reports: 0.0.0.0 or :: (short version for 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000 ). This is why you can use these conditions to filter out non-consent traffic.

  9. Click Create a segment.

Compare both traffics

After creating segments, you will be able to apply them to your dashboards, core reports, and custom reports. Here’s an example of a comparison of both traffics.

Compared segments in Piwik PRO

Note: We’ve observed that when a business uses a consent form on the website, about 25 to 75 percent of visitors don’t agree to tracking or don’t make a consent decision.

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