Usage Insights client-side storage cookies

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Usage Insights client-side storage cookies

    Usage Insights tracks client-side user activity within ServiceNow applications using the SNAnalytics JavaScript SDK embedded in Platform Analytics, Core UI, and Service Portal. This SDK leverages browser session storage and local storage to manage and persist analytics data essential for monitoring user interactions and system performance.

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    Key Features

    • Key Structure: Locally stored keys follow the pattern sn:{APIKEY}:{KEY NAME}. Each portal has a unique API key, ensuring data is correctly attributed.
    • Session Storage: Used to temporarily hold analytics data during the lifespan of a browser tab. It includes:
      • srt: Timestamp of the last successful server communication.
      • data: Queue of analytics events awaiting backend upload.
      • page: Current page name automatically recorded.
      • tab: Unique identifier for the active browser tab.
      Session storage data is cleared when the tab closes.
    • Local Storage: Maintains persistent information such as:
      • browser: Unique identifier for the browser instance.
      • client: Server-assigned ID linked to the browser key.
      • user: Hashed user ID provided by the customer.
      • consent: Boolean flag indicating user tracking consent.
      Local storage persists across sessions until browser data is cleared or consent is revoked.
    • Deleting Local Storage: Users must clear browser cookies and site data to remove local storage variables, typically via browser history settings.
    • Data Storage and Security: Collected data is encrypted at rest and stored in regional, multitenant ServiceNow repositories (Canada, Germany, Japan). Data is anonymized before storage and retained for two years. The Yokohama release includes an additional backup in Canada using prior architecture.

    Key Outcomes

    ServiceNow customers benefit from robust, privacy-conscious client-side tracking that supports detailed usage analytics while respecting user consent. The combination of session and local storage ensures accurate, session-specific data collection and persistent identifiers for trusted tracking. Data encryption and regional storage policies provide compliance with data protection standards, enabling customers to confidently leverage Usage Insights to improve their platform experience.

    To track client-side user activity, Usage Insights uses the SNAnalytics JavaScript SDK that is embedded in Platform Analytics, Core UI, and the Service Portal.

    The SNAnalytics SDK uses a combination of session storage and local storage variables to keep track of the information required to facilitate the analytics tracking.

    For more information on session storage and local storage, refer to the JavaScript.Info documentation.

    For more information on SNAnalytics SDK, see SNAnalytics - Client  and SNAnalytics – in the Developer community.

    Key structure

    All locally stored keys are stored using the following structure: sn:{API_KEY}:{KEY NAME}

    Each tracked portal has a unique API_KEY that is stored on the instance. For example, for the portal with an API key abcd and a key name tab, the local key value would be: sn:abc:tab

    Session storage

    Session storage is used to maintain the flow of information between web page refreshes and user navigations. Information in session storage is transient and kept available only during the lifespan of the current tab. When a tab is closed, the session storage information is removed.

    The table lists the keys and values stored on session storage.
    Key Description
    srt Server Response Time. The last time SNAnalytics successfully communicated with the Usage Insights server.
    data Queue of temporary stored analytics data points, which is periodically flushed to the backend.
    page The name of the current page, automatically captured by the Usage Insights server.
    tab Randomly generated unique identifier for the current tab.

    Local storage

    Local storage is used to maintain tracking consent information, hashed identification of the user (which is cleared when consent is revoked), and randomly generated identifiers for the browser. Local storage variables are persistent locally and are deleted when the user clears their browsing data.

    The table lists the keys and values stored on local storage.
    Key Description
    browser Randomly generated unique identifier for the current browser.
    client The server assigned ID mapped to the browser key value.
    user Hashed user id, supplied by the customer.
    consent A boolean (yes/no) value that indicates whether the user consents to be tracked.

    Deleting local storage

    To delete local storage variables, the user must clear the browsing data from within their browser. For example, in the Chrome browser, select History > Show Full History > Clear browsing data. In the Clear browsing data window, select Cookies and other site data and then select Clear data.
    Settings to clear local storage cookies.

    Data storage

    Data is encrypted at rest. It’s stored in a central ServiceNow® multitenant repository closest to you, in either AMS (Canada), EMEA (Germany), or APAC (Japan).

    Data is anonymized before it’s sent to storage, and deleted at the database level after a retention period of two years.

    For the Yokohama release, an additional backup copy is stored in a central repository in Canada using the pre-Yokohama architecture.