What are Analytics

The Analytics feature allows you to gain insights on your historical browsing activity. The Analytics Dashboard has several sections:

Statistics - Shows a summary of your usage patterns and general trends
Activity Log - Shows exact queries that were made and additional metadata.

How to Enable Analytics

To enable Analytics, simply edit a Device and choose one of the Analytics Levels. Then head over to the Analytics Dashboard and view the stats.

Data Storage Rules

Storage Region

In Preferences -> Account, you can select a Storage Region. This is where your data will be physically stored should you choose to enable the Analytics feature.

Granular Data

The most granular data stored by Control D in any circumstance is kept for a maximum of three days. This is only the case when you have selected Full Analytics for the Device in question. In this case, Control D stores the following information about each of the DNS queries made against your Control D Device’s resolvers:

Domain name
Date and time of query
Protocol used
DNS return code
Type of record
Action taken (blocked, bypassed, or redirected)
Reason for action taken (Filter, Service, Custom Rule, Default Rule)
Context for reason (which specific Filter, Service, Custom Rule, and if redirected, which location or IP it was redirected via)
Source IP address
Destination IP address/es

This data is what makes the Activity Log possible. We never store it unless you choose to select Full Analytics. It is impossible to see your browsing data in the Activity Log unless Full Analytics is selected for the Device being viewed for this exact reason: we respect you and your privacy.

Domain Data

The next category of data we can store with your explicit permission is the less granular data, kept for 1 month, which makes the Statistics: Full Analytics view possible. The granularity of this data is reduced to hourly, with no query timestamps. It comprises counts of domains resolved, actions taken, and associated metadata - like whether the action taken was due to a Custom Rule, Service, or Filter.

Counts

The third and final category of browsing data that we keep to facilitate your use of the Analytics feature (should you opt into this) is kept for a year, or, of course, until you choose to clear your Analytics data either for that Device or for your chosen Storage Region on the account. This is the same data that is stored in all previous scopes if you have Some Analytics enabled (rather than Full Analytics) for the Device in question.

This is simply a count of the number of queries made, the days on which they were made, and whether they were Blocked, Bypassed, or Redirected. This data makes this view possible (available for Devices with either Some or Full Analytics selected).

Data Retention Summary

Raw Query Logs

Raw DNS query logs are stored for 3 days.

Statistics

Statistics data is stored for:

1 month with hourly time series granularity
1 year with daily time series granularity