The LinkedIn Insight Tag cookies are li_fat_id, a first-party cookie on your own domain that holds LinkedIn's click identifier for 30 days, plus LinkedIn's own cookies such as bcookie, lidc, li_sugr, UserMatchHistory and AnalyticsSyncHistory. None is strictly necessary for your website, so under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive the tag must wait until a visitor accepts marketing cookies. The tag loads from snap.licdn.com and reports to px.ads.linkedin.com.
Why the LinkedIn Insight Tag raises GDPR concerns
The LinkedIn Insight Tag is a lightweight JavaScript snippet that tracks visitor behaviour on your website. According to LinkedIn's Insight Tag help page, it collects the URL, referrer, IP address, device and browser characteristics, and a timestamp. LinkedIn truncates or hashes IP addresses and removes direct identifiers within seven days, then deletes the remaining pseudonymised data within 180 days. LinkedIn uses the data for ad targeting, audience building and conversion measurement.
Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, storing or accessing information on a visitor's device requires prior consent unless it is strictly necessary for a service the visitor requested. The Insight Tag does not meet that exemption.
LinkedIn's own record shows how regulators view advertising consent. On 24 October 2024, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined LinkedIn EUR 310 million for processing members' data for behavioural analysis and targeted advertising without a valid legal basis: the consent it relied on was not freely given, informed, specific or unambiguous.
What cookies the LinkedIn Insight Tag sets
When the Insight Tag loads, the most significant cookie is li_fat_id, a first-party cookie that stores LinkedIn's member indirect identifier for conversion tracking, retargeting and analytics. LinkedIn lists it with a 30-day duration.
The tag also works with cookies on LinkedIn's own domains, which the browser sends with requests to snap.licdn.com (the host that serves the tag's script, insight.min.js) and px.ads.linkedin.com (the host that receives its events). These include AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie and lidc. In the browser they appear under LinkedIn's domains, not yours, but they are still set or read because your page loaded the tag.
All of these cookies fall into the marketing cookies category. None qualify as strictly necessary. As of October 2026, LinkedIn's cookie table (last updated 26 August 2026) describes them as follows:
| Cookie name | Where it lives | Duration | Purpose (LinkedIn's description) |
|---|---|---|---|
li_fat_id | Your domain (first-party) | 30 days | Member indirect identifier for conversion tracking, retargeting and analytics |
AnalyticsSyncHistory | LinkedIn (third-party) | 30 days | Time of the last sync with the lms_analytics cookie |
UserMatchHistory | LinkedIn (third-party) | 30 days | LinkedIn Ads ID syncing |
li_sugr | LinkedIn (third-party) | 90 days | Probabilistic match of a user's identity |
bcookie | LinkedIn (third-party) | 1 year | Browser identifier, for security and diagnostics |
lidc | LinkedIn (third-party) | 24 hours | Data centre selection |
li_gc | LinkedIn (third-party) | 6 months | Stores a guest's consent choice for non-essential cookies |
Two names come up in searches that do not belong in that list. li_at is LinkedIn's sign-in cookie on linkedin.com: it authenticates members, and the Insight Tag never sets it on your site. li_adsid does not appear in LinkedIn's published cookie table, and the tag's script, fetched on 16 October 2026, did not mention it. That script did refer to li_fat_id, li_gc and li_giant. If a scan of your site finds li_adsid or another LinkedIn name, treat it as a marketing cookie until LinkedIn documents it.
Blocking the Insight Tag until consent is granted
The default LinkedIn installation snippet loads the tag immediately on page load. Consent must come before any non-essential cookie is set, so you need to stop the tag from running until a visitor actively opts in through your cookie banner.
There are two practical approaches.
Using Google Tag Manager with Consent Mode
If you already use Google Tag Manager, configure the LinkedIn tag to fire only when the ad_storage consent signal is set to granted. With Google Consent Mode v2, your consent tool pushes consent state updates to the dataLayer, and GTM handles the conditional firing.
Set the LinkedIn tag's additional consent checks to require ad_storage. When a visitor rejects marketing cookies, the tag never loads, and no LinkedIn cookies appear on the device.
Using script blocking in your consent tool
If you do not use GTM, most consent tools can block scripts conditionally. The standard technique changes the script's type attribute from text/javascript to text/plain and adds a data attribute that maps to the marketing category. With Kukie.io that attribute is data-cc-category="marketing", and the banner also holds scripts from snap.licdn.com automatically until marketing consent is given.
The LinkedIn Conversions API as a server-side alternative
LinkedIn's Conversions API (CAPI) sends conversion events from your server to LinkedIn's servers instead of from the browser. This server-side approach gives you more control over exactly what data is shared and when.
CAPI does not remove the need for consent. You are still sending personal data to LinkedIn for advertising purposes, which needs a lawful basis under GDPR Article 6. The practical difference is that CAPI lets you enforce consent on your server before any data leaves, rather than relying on client-side JavaScript to behave correctly.
Combining the Insight Tag with CAPI
LinkedIn recommends running both the Insight Tag and CAPI together for higher match rates. In a consent-based setup, the Insight Tag fires only after consent and passes the li_fat_id click ID to your server, which includes it in CAPI events.
For visitors who decline marketing cookies, the Insight Tag stays blocked, and your server should not send CAPI events with identifiers for them.
Updating your cookie policy and banner
Your cookie policy must disclose the LinkedIn Insight Tag, its cookies, their purposes and their durations. List each cookie by name: vague references to "analytics partners" do not meet the GDPR's transparency requirements under Article 13.
In your cookie banner, classify all LinkedIn cookies under the marketing or advertising category. Kukie.io's cookie scanner detects LinkedIn tracking cookies when it scans your site and puts them in the marketing category, so you do not have to maintain the list by hand.
Your privacy policy should also name LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company as a recipient and describe the safeguards for any transfer outside the EEA, given that LinkedIn is a Microsoft subsidiary. LinkedIn's help page also says the tag should not be installed on pages that collect or contain sensitive data.
Data controller responsibilities and the joint controller question
When you install the Insight Tag, LinkedIn processes visitor data for its own purposes, such as ad optimisation and audience building, as well as yours, such as conversion tracking and remarketing.
The closest precedent is Fashion ID (C-40/17). On 29 July 2019, the Court of Justice held that a website operator that embeds Facebook's "Like" button can be a joint controller with Facebook for collecting and transmitting visitors' data, but not, in principle, for what Facebook does with it afterwards. The same reasoning fits a tracking tag embedded on your site: you share responsibility for the collection, including getting consent.
The contract that governs the tag is the LinkedIn Ads Agreement, including its terms for conversion tracking, which LinkedIn's help page links to. Read it to see how LinkedIn allocates responsibilities for this data. LinkedIn's Pages Joint Controller Addendum covers Page Insights on LinkedIn Pages, not the Insight Tag.
Testing and verification
After setting up consent-based loading, check that it works. Open your browser's developer tools, clear all cookies and visit your site without accepting the cookie banner. Check the Application tab for li_fat_id and the Network tab for requests to snap.licdn.com or px.ads.linkedin.com. If either appears before consent, your blocking has failed.
Repeat the test after accepting marketing cookies. The LinkedIn cookie and requests should now appear. You can also use a free cookie scanner to audit your site without manual checks.
Run this test after every tag or consent tool update. A single GTM container change can re-enable scripts that should be blocked.
Questions about the LinkedIn Insight Tag
Does the LinkedIn Insight Tag require cookie consent under GDPR?
Yes. The Insight Tag sets or reads non-essential tracking cookies used for advertising and analytics. Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, you must obtain opt-in consent before the tag fires on your website.
What happens to LinkedIn ad tracking if a visitor rejects cookies?
If a visitor declines marketing cookies, the Insight Tag should not load at all. LinkedIn will not receive any browsing data from that visitor, and you will not be able to attribute conversions or build retargeting audiences from their session.
Can I use the LinkedIn Conversions API without the Insight Tag?
Yes. The Conversions API works independently by sending server-side events directly to LinkedIn. You still need a lawful basis for processing the personal data you send, but CAPI gives you tighter control over what data is shared and when.
Is LinkedIn a data controller or data processor for Insight Tag data?
LinkedIn uses Insight Tag data for its own advertising purposes, not only on your instructions. Following the Fashion ID judgment, you are likely a joint controller with LinkedIn for collecting and transmitting the data, while LinkedIn alone is responsible for what it does with the data afterwards.
How do I block the LinkedIn Insight Tag in Google Tag Manager?
Set the LinkedIn tag's additional consent checks to require ad_storage in GTM's consent settings. The tag will then fire only when your consent tool signals that the visitor has granted marketing consent.
What is the li_fat_id cookie used for?
The li_fat_id cookie is a first-party cookie that stores LinkedIn's member indirect identifier, which LinkedIn uses for conversion tracking, retargeting and analytics. LinkedIn lists its duration as 30 days.
What is snap.licdn.com?
snap.licdn.com is the LinkedIn host that serves the Insight Tag script, insight.min.js. A request to it in your browser's Network tab means the tag has loaded, so it should not appear before a visitor accepts marketing cookies.
Know exactly what your website stores
Most sites set more cookies than their owners expect. Run a free scan to see every LinkedIn and other marketing cookie on your pages, then let Kukie.io sort them, hold them until visitors choose and record each choice.
