Drift Cookies are pieces of data that are stored within a browser and are used to identify when a user has returned.  In this article we will break down the categories of cookies that Drift uses and provide descriptions of how and why they are used within the product.

 

In this article, we’ll go over the following:

 

• Why Drift uses Cookies
• Cookie Types within Drift
• Default Cookies
• Conditional Cookies

 

Why Drift uses Cookies

Drift has the ability to tie previous conversations and interactions to a specific person on your website. Drift will also use cookies to operate the product more efficiently and make sure that certain website operations are only performed a single time. Additionally, Drift tracks specific metrics around website usage, such as which pages someone went to and how often they return. This data is never sold or sent to third parties. Instead, it is used in our platform to allow for more personalized and specific messaging.  For additional information on Drift’s Cookie and Privacy Policies, check out this doc here. 

 

Cookie Types within Drift

 

Drift currently uses two different types of cookies.  See below for additional information on each type: 

 

Identification Cookies:

The primary reason for identification cookies is so that Drift has the ability to tie previous conversations and interactions to a specific person on your website. With this information, your chat agents can easily see the previous conversation and use that context in their current conversation. Without cookies, if someone chats in with Drift and asks about an update to their conversation last week, Drift will have no connection to the previous conversation. 

 

Tracking Cookies:

Tracking Cookies are used to track website behavior that allows Drift to display different messaging. A common example of this is presenting a message such as "Welcome back! ... " if the site visitor is coming for a return visit.

 

Default Cookies

Default Cookies are individual cookies that will be written onto your website and will be assigned when Drift loads are necessary.

Things to Note: The cookies listed in this section cannot be adjusted and must be set in order for Drift to load properly and not all of these cookies are written the first time a webpage is viewed, however, all default cookies listed below will be eventually written to the browser at an unspecified time and cannot be toggled on or off as they are critical for the functionality of Drift.

 

Name: drift_aid

Cookie Type: Tracking and Identification

Does it track PII: Yes

Details: This is an anonymous identifier token used to tie the visitor on your website with the profile within the Drift system.  This allows Drift the remember the information that the site visitor has provided through the chat on subsequent site visits.

Cookie Expiration Length: 2 years

 

Name: drift_campaign_refresh

Cookie Type: Tracking and Identification

Does it track PII: No

Details: This is the session identifier token.  It is used to tie the visitor on your website with a current website session within the Drift system.  This enables session-specific features, such as popping up a message only once during a 30 minute session as to prevent a disruptive experience.

Cookie Expiration Length: 30 minutes

 

Name: DRIFT_visitCounts

Cookie Type: Tracking

Does it track PII: No

Details: This allows the Drift widget to perform targeting based on the amount of time a user is on a page along with the number of visits to the page.

Cookie Expiration Length: None

 

Name: DRIFT_openTabs

Cookie Type: Tracking

Does it track PII: No

Details: This allows Drift to play sound notifications if there is a Drift message in a tab other than the currently selected one.

Cookie Expiration Length: None

 

Name: DRIFT_SESSION_ID

Cookie Type: Tracking

Does it track PII: No

Details: This ties a user to a browser session for internal reporting purposes.

Cookie Expiration Length: Expires when the tab with Drift on the page is closed.

 

Name: DRIFT_SESSION_STARTED

Cookie Type: Tracking

Does it track PII: No

Details: This denotes when a given session has been started.

Cookie Expiration Length: Expires when the tab with Drift on the page is closed.

 

Name: DRIFT_ALWAYS_Sens_IDS

Cookie Type: Tracking

Does it track PII: No

Details: Helps tack unique impressions for playbooks that are set to always send

Cookie Expiration Length: Expires when the tab with Drift on the page is closed.

Conditional Cookies

Conditional Cookies are assigned based on particular write conditions and are NOT necessary to use Drift.  Cookies listed in this section MAY be written onto your website if you are using a specific feature of Drift.  If you are unsure what features are used, we suggest contacting your local Drift Admin or your Drift Point of Contact.  

 

Name: drift_eid

Cookie Type: Tracking and Identification

Does it track PII: Yes

Details: This is the external identifier token.  It is used to tie the Drift visitor profile to an external identifier on the website.  This is used when your application already has an authentication layer and the person on your website is known to your application.  Instead of using Drift’s default identifier (drift_aid), you can specify the identity of the website user to Drift.

Cookie write details: This cookie is only created when the JavaScript method “Drift.Identify” is used, if the “Drift.Identify” is not being used, the “drift_eid” cookie will not appear either.

Cookie Expiration Length: 2 years

 

Name: drift_ujwt

Cookie Type: Tracking and Identification

Does it track PII: Yes

Details: This is a signed JWT that is used to securely identify users that are on your website.

Cookie write details: This cookie is only used if you are using signed identified within Drift.  Signed identities are a specific feature that is used by a small amount of Drift customers.  

Cookie Expiration Length: 2 years