_hjSessionUser_* Cookie Explained: What Does It Do?

Businesses everywhere use behavior analytics to gain insights into how customers interact with their sites. Hotjar is an analytics tool that provides data and information to businesses indicating what parts of their sites garner the most attention from visitors. To accurately track each visitor's activity, Hotjar uses cookies, and the whole process starts with hjSessionUser.

Hotjar utilizes _hjSessionUser_* to assign a unique ID to all visitors of a site that uses Hotjar and persist that ID across all visits. This ID is the first step to how Hotjar can provide the insights it does and how businesses can learn more about every visitor to their site.

We’ll detail what the hjSessionUser cookie does and how long it lasts on a browser before expiring.

Let’s dive in.

How Does the _hjSessionUser_* Cookie Work?

_hjSessionUser_* is a Hotjar cookie that allows Hotjar to assign specific behaviors and interactions, all data collected from a particular browser to a user. The _hjSessionUser_* cookie assigns each visitor to a site a unique ID and persists that ID so all the interactions a user completes are attributed to that ID.

Hotjar employs several more cookies that work together to provide a vast collection of data about the visitors to a business. The attributes, interactions, behaviors, and details businesses use to understand their consumers’ behavior and site performance start with the _hjSessionUser_* cookie.

The _hjSessionUser_* cookie establishes the unique ID and attaches it to that browser, allowing Hotjar to attribute all the data it collects to the right user. All data saved on that browser by the user assigned that ID will persist across all visits to the site.

How Long Does the _hjSessionUser_* Cookie Last?

The _hjSessionUser_* cookie is responsible for setting the unique ID of a user when they first visit a page and then marking that user to attribute all of the subsequently collected data. For this reason, it hangs around for quite a while, a whole year to be exact.

While this may sound intimidating to some, you can rest assured knowing that _hjSessionUser_* assigns a Hotjar ID unique to the site it started from. It does not track users or collect data from their activity across other sites like other third-party cookies.

What Can Captain Compliance Do For You?

Hotjar is a helpful tool for businesses to better understand their consumers and how they interact with their sites. The _hjSessionUser_* cookie allows Hotjar to assign all the data and information they collect to a specific user.

You may not realize how Hotjar utilizes the cookies they place to help your business, but they all serve an essential purpose in the process. However, if your business utilizes cookies, like Hotjar cookies, be ready to have a fully compliant cookie consent process or face possible consequences and fines.

At Captain Compliance, we have years of expertise with cookies and compliance knowledge that can help your business ensure you enjoy the insights provided by tools like Hotjar without concerns about penalties. Contact us for a complimentary consultation today.