vuid Cookie: What It Is, Who Sets It, and Consent Rules

What the vuid Cookie Does on Your Site

The vuid cookie is a third-party analytics cookie that the Vimeo player sets on vimeo.com to give each viewer an ID for the video analytics of the video owner. The vuid cookie holds a "Vimeo-generated ID for analytics for the video owner", according to the Vimeo Help Center article on Vimeo Player cookies. The Vimeo player writes the vuid cookie with JavaScript as soon as the player loads, before the visitor presses play. Vimeo uses that ID in the analytics of the video owner, the Vimeo account that uploaded the video.

The vuid cookie works next to the player cookie, which keeps the volume, quality, and caption choices of the viewer for 1 year (365 days).

Who Sets the vuid Cookie

The Vimeo player sets the vuid cookie with JavaScript as soon as the player loads in the page, before the visitor presses play. The player URL player.vimeo.com/video/<video-id> is the same for the embed code that Vimeo gives you and for the Vimeo blocks of page builders. Every embedded Vimeo video therefore sets the vuid cookie by default.

The vuid value starts with pl, followed by 2 numbers joined by a dot. A TermsFeed check in Chrome on 17 October 2026 found the vuid cookie on .vimeo.com with SameSite=None and Secure. The cookie therefore travels with every request from your pages to Vimeo.

Read how Vimeo.com, Inc. handles the data in the Vimeo privacy policy. Both documents appear in the sources at the end of this page.

Does the vuid Cookie Need Consent?

Yes, the vuid cookie needs consent in the EU, needs consent in the UK unless the statistics exception covers your setup, and needs no prior opt-in in California. The table gives the rule for each law.

The consent table describes what each law requires and is not legal advice. Whether a law applies to your site depends on where your visitors are, where your business is based, and how you set up Vimeo, such as the dnt parameter of the player URL.

The ePrivacy Directive requires consent before a site sets the vuid cookie. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets the standard for that consent: freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous.

The UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) exempt analytics cookies that produce aggregate statistics to improve the site. The exemption comes from the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and took effect on 5 February 2026. The exemption needs clear information for visitors and a simple and free way to object, according to the ICO guidance on the exceptions. The exemption allows no tracking or profiling of individual visitors. The vendor needs to act as your processor, and recordings of individual visitors and advertising purposes stay outside the exemption. The Vimeo player sends the viewing data with the vuid cookie to Vimeo. The statistics exemption covers the vuid cookie only when Vimeo acts as your processor and uses the viewing data for your statistics alone.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) sets no general opt-in requirement before a site sets the vuid cookie. Visitors get no right to opt out of the vuid cookie while Vimeo acts as your service provider. The service provider role needs a contract that limits the use of the data to the service for your site.

Read how each law decides which cookies need consent in the EU ePrivacy Directive + GDPR guide, the UK PECR guide, and the California CCPA guide.

How to Block the vuid Cookie Until Visitors Accept

Block the vuid cookie by holding back the script that inserts the Vimeo player until the visitor accepts analytics cookies. TermsFeed Free Cookie Consent and TermsFeed Privacy Consent place Vimeo in the analytics category. Check whether an exemption applies to your own use of Vimeo in the consent rules for the vuid cookie.

The Vimeo player writes no vuid cookie while the script that inserts the player waits as a tagged script. Leave a short text in place of the video, so visitors who decline see why the video is missing.

<div id="vimeo-1"></div>
<script type="text/plain" data-cookie-consent="tracking">
  document.getElementById('vimeo-1').innerHTML =
    '<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/VIDEO_ID" ' +
    'title="Vimeo video player" allow="fullscreen; picture-in-picture"></iframe>';
</script>

Stop the vuid Cookie in the Vimeo Player URL

Add dnt=1 to the player URL, for example https://player.vimeo.com/video/76979871?dnt=1, to stop the vuid cookie. The parameter "prevents us from setting any new cookies on your browser", according to the Vimeo Help Center article on Vimeo Player cookies. A TermsFeed check in Chrome on 17 October 2026 found no vuid cookie after a player load with dnt=1.

The dnt parameter stops new cookies only. The Vimeo player still loads from Vimeo, sets its bot protection cookies, and sends cookies from earlier visits, so the player needs consent with dnt=1 as well.

How to Verify That the vuid Cookie Waits for Consent

Verify the setup in a private window. Open Chrome DevTools, select the Application tab, and open Cookies. Click "I decline" on the consent banner and reload the page. The vuid cookie must not appear in the list until you accept analytics cookies.

How Long the vuid Cookie Lasts

The vuid cookie lasts 2 years (730 days). Chrome keeps the cookie for 400 days (about 13 months) at most, according to the Chrome team.

The vuid cookie lasts 2 years (730 days), according to the Vimeo Help Center article on Vimeo Player cookies. Chrome showed an expiry 400 days after the visit in a TermsFeed check on 17 October 2026, because Chrome shortens every longer cookie to 400 days.

Cookies That Work Together With vuid

Vimeo sets 9 other cookies next to the vuid cookie in its current setup.

Scripts and Requests of Vimeo That Come With the vuid Cookie

The catalog lists 1 scripts, pixels, and data endpoints of Vimeo, which a cookie scanner or the Network tab of Chrome DevTools shows next to the vuid cookie. Block the main script, and the requests in the table stop with the main script.

vuid Cookie FAQs

Is vuid a necessary cookie?

No, the vuid cookie is not a strictly necessary cookie. Firstly, the Vimeo player plays the video without the vuid cookie when the player URL carries dnt=1. Secondly, Vimeo uses the vuid cookie for the analytics of the video owner, a purpose the ePrivacy Directive exemption does not cover. Thirdly, the vuid cookie identifies the viewer for 2 years, far longer than a single visit needs.

How do I stop Vimeo from setting the vuid cookie?

Add dnt=1 to the URL of every Vimeo player on your site. The Vimeo player then sets no new cookie apart from its bot protection cookies, which count as "essential to the secure operation of the player", according to the Vimeo Help Center article on Vimeo Player cookies. Hold back the player until the visitor accepts to send nothing to Vimeo before consent.

What does dnt=1 do in a Vimeo embed?

The dnt=1 parameter "blocks the player from collecting session data and analytics", according to the Vimeo Help Center article on player parameters. The Vimeo player then sets no vuid cookie for the analytics of the video owner.

How long does the vuid cookie last?

The vuid cookie lasts 2 years (730 days) as set by Vimeo, and 400 days in Chrome. Chrome shortens every cookie to 400 days at most, whatever lifetime the site sets.