How is Application insight tracking the User_Id?

Question

Im running a Azure Webapp with application insight.

I know Microsoft cant show the real IP (Client_IP) so I add the real IP address to all requests (Ip).

I have a visitor client_id="h9zbt" that in the last 24h is using 48 different client_IP adresses.

The same user also has several real IPv6 adresses.

I like to block this IP from my website, but I think this looks so strange.

Is it really the same user?

How is Application insight tracking the User_Id?

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Answer 1

User IDs should persist across user sessions to track how users behave over time. There are various approaches for persisting the ID.

A definition of a user that you already have in your service.
If the service has access to a browser, it can pass the browser a cookie with an ID in it. The ID will persist for as long as the cookie

remains in the user's browser. If necessary, you can use a new ID each session, but the results about users will be limited. For example, you won't be able to see how a user's behavior changes over time.

The ID should be a Guid or another string complex enough to identify each user uniquely. For example, it could be a long random number.

If the ID contains personally identifying information about the user, it is not an appropriate value to send to Application Insights as a user ID. You can send such an ID as an authenticated user ID, but it does not fulfill the user ID requirement for usage scenarios.

mentioned in Azure doc. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/application-insights/app-insights-usage-send-user-context