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A critical part of privacy-compliant setup is URL anonymization. Since we don’t collect personally identifiable information (PII), URLs containing personal identifiers (e.g. a user ID, token, or order number) must be masked or removed — before they leave the user’s browser. bchic gives you two ways to do this:
  1. The visual Anonymization Builder in the dashboard (recommended)
  2. Manual configuration directly in the script tag

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Opening the Anonymization Builder

The fastest way to configure anonymization is through the dashboard:
1

Open Organization Settings

Navigate to Settings → Organization. You’ll see a list of all linked website URLs for your organization.
2

Open Snippet

Hover over the desired website and click Snippet. This opens the installation guide with your current script tag.
3

Edit Script Settings

Click the Edit Script Settings button. This opens the configuration editor.
4

Privacy & Anonymization

Scroll to the Privacy & Anonymization section and enable the toggle. Here you’ll find two areas:
  • URL Anonymization — for path segments
  • Exclude Query Parameters — for URL parameters
Click Configure to open the visual builder.

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1. Anonymizing URL Paths

If your website uses URLs like https://example.com/profile/12345/orders, then 12345 is a personally identifiable user ID. URL anonymization masks these dynamic segments locally in the browser before the pageview is sent to bchic.

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The URL Anonymization Builder

The visual builder makes creating anonymization rules as easy as possible:

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Auto-Detect Patterns from Your URLs

You can paste multiple URLs from your website into the text field at the top. Click Detect Patterns — the builder automatically finds the segments that differ between URLs and suggests matching anonymization templates.
Example: Paste these URLs:
https://example.com/users/123/profile
https://example.com/users/456/profile
https://example.com/users/789/settings
The builder detects that the third segment (123, 456, 789) varies and automatically suggests /{path}/users/{userId}/* as a template.

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Creating Templates Manually

You can also build templates directly in the Path Template editor:
  • Each path segment is displayed as its own building block
  • Click the curly braces {} to turn a segment into a placeholder — this part will be masked in the tracked URL
  • Edit placeholder names directly inline (e.g. {userId}, {orderId}, {token})

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Sub-Paths After the Template

Under Sub-Paths After The Template, choose how to handle the rest of the URL after your pattern:

Exact Match

The path length must match the template exactly. Longer URLs won’t be matched.

Keep Rest /*

All sub-paths after the match are retained./u/{id}/* turns /u/123/settings → /u/id/settings

Drop Rest /*!

Everything after the template is truncated./u/{id}/*! turns /u/123/settings → /u/id

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Live Preview

Below the template you’ll see a live preview (“What Gets Sent”) that shows you how a sample URL would look after anonymization. This lets you validate your rules before activating them.
Example: With the template /{path}/seg/{segment}/*!, the URL /a1b2c3d4e5/seg/xyz_tok789/details/42 becomes /path/seg/segment.
You can add multiple rules at once via + Add Rule. Click Apply to save your configuration.

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Auto-Detect Mode

If you don’t want to create custom templates, simply enable Auto-detect mode in the builder. It automatically scans for common ID formats and replaces them with /uuid. What gets automatically detected?
PatternExampleResult
UUIDs/orders/550e8400-e29b-41d4.../orders/uuid
Hex hashes (24+ characters)/commit/a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6/commit/uuid
Numeric IDs (18+ digits)/invoice/123456789012345678/invoice/uuid
Alphanumeric tokens (20+ characters)/session/xK9mP2nQ8rT5vW7yZ1.../session/uuid
Auto-detect mode only catches IDs above a certain length. If your website uses shorter IDs (e.g. /user/42 or /order/abc), use custom templates instead.

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2. Excluding Query Parameters

Often, personal data isn’t in the path but in URL parameters after the ? (e.g. ?token=abc123 or ?session=xyz). In the Exclude Query Parameters section, you can selectively remove or empty these parameters.

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Configuration in the Dashboard

In the Privacy & Anonymization section, below URL anonymization, you’ll find the Exclude Query Parameters area. Enter your rules separated by commas.

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Two Actions

Remove Parameter Completely (Delete)

Format: /path:parameterThe parameter is fully removed from the URL.
  • Rule: /{path}:token
  • Original: /abc123?token=secret&other=value
  • Sent: /abc123?other=value

Empty the Value (Keep Key)

Format: /path:parameter= (note the = at the end)The key is retained but the value is emptied. Useful when you want to track that a search happened, but not what was searched.
  • Rule: /{path}:token=
  • Original: /abc123?token=secret&other=value
  • Sent: /abc123?token=&other=value

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Path Templates with Wildcards

Path templates in parameter rules support the same placeholders and wildcards as URL anonymization:
RuleEffect
/{path}:tokenRemoves token on all pages with a dynamic first segment
/path/*:token=Empties token on all sub-pages of /path/
/auth/signup:tokenRemoves token only on exactly /auth/signup

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Live Preview

Query parameter rules also show a live preview under “What Gets Sent” so you can see how URLs will look after processing:
OriginalRuleSent
/abc123?token=secret&other=value/{path}:token/abc123?other=value
/abc123?token=secret&other=value/{path}:token=/abc123?token=&other=value
/path/detail?token=secret&other=value/path/*:token=/path/detail?token=&other=value

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3. Manual Configuration in the Script Tag

All settings from the dashboard are automatically reflected in the script tag. You can also set the attributes manually if you prefer.

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data-anonymize-url

<!-- Auto-detect mode -->
<script
    defer
    src="https://analytics.bchic.de/script.js"
    data-website-id="YOUR_WEBSITE_ID"
    data-anonymize-url="true"
></script>

<!-- Custom templates (comma-separated) -->
<script
    defer
    src="https://analytics.bchic.de/script.js"
    data-website-id="YOUR_WEBSITE_ID"
    data-anonymize-url="/profile/{userId}/*, /order/{orderId}/*!">
</script>

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data-exclude-params

<script
    defer
    src="https://analytics.bchic.de/script.js"
    data-website-id="YOUR_WEBSITE_ID"
    data-exclude-params="/auth/signup:token, /search:q="
></script>

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Combined Example

A complete script tag with URL anonymization, parameter exclusions, and additional features: 
<script
    defer
    src="https://analytics.bchic.de/script.js"
    data-website-id="YOUR_WEBSITE_ID"
    data-track-performance="true"
    data-anonymize-url="/{path}/seg/{segment}/*!"
    data-exclude-params="/{path}:token, /path/*:token="
    data-track-consent="true"
></script>

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Syntax Reference

SymbolFunctionExample
{placeholder}Replaces the dynamic part with the placeholder name/profile/{userId}
(no wildcard)Exact match — path length must match exactly/a/b won’t match /a/b/c
/*Keep rest — sub-paths after the match are retained/u/{id}/* → /u/id/settings
/*!Drop rest — everything after the template is removed/u/{id}/*! → /u/id

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Verification & Testing

How do you know everything is working correctly? There are two ways:

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In the Dashboard

The live preview in the builder shows you directly how each rule works. Use the “What Gets Sent” display to validate your configuration before clicking Apply.

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In the Browser

  1. Open your browser’s Developer Tools (F12).
  2. Switch to the Network tab.
  3. Load a page on your website that contains a URL or parameter that should be anonymized.
  4. Look for the request to the tracking endpoint (analytics.bchic.de).
  5. Click on the request and inspect the Payload.
The url field in the payload should already contain the anonymized form (e.g. /profile/userId/... or removed parameters). If so, no personal data is leaving the user’s browser.

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Best Practices

If you’re unsure which URLs contain personal data, start by enabling Auto-Detect mode. It catches most common ID formats automatically. Then add custom templates as needed for shorter IDs.
Copy 3–5 different URLs of the same page (with different IDs) into the builder and click Detect Patterns. The builder automatically identifies the dynamic segments and creates a matching template for you.
If you’re unsure whether sub-pages might contain sensitive data, use /*! (Drop Rest). This truncates everything after the matched pattern, keeping you on the safe side.
For search parameters like ?q=, we recommend emptying (/search:q=) rather than fully removing them. This way you can still see in your analytics that users used the search — just not what they searched for.
Always use the live preview in the builder before saving your rules. Test with real URLs from your website to make sure no personal data slips through.