What is the AWSALBTG cookie?
AWSALBTG is an HTTP cookie automatically generated by AWS Application Load Balancer (ALB), the infrastructure component Amazon uses to distribute traffic across multiple identical servers hosting the same site or application.
It is not set by the site's developers directly, but by the AWS service the site runs on. It appears as soon as a visitor loads a page hosted on AWS infrastructure that uses a load balancer configured with sticky sessions.
What data it stores
The cookie stores a technical identifier, typically an encoded value generated by the AWS load balancer, indicating which backend server (target) the visitor's session has been assigned to. It does not contain personal data such as name, email, or browsing behavior.
The value is read only by the AWS infrastructure behind that domain, on each HTTP request, to decide which internal server should handle the traffic. It is not shared with third parties or other domains.
What it is used for
Its purpose is purely technical: it keeps a visitor "pinned" to the same backend server behind the load balancer for the duration of their session, so the application behaves consistently (for example, so a shopping cart, multi-step form, or login state isn't lost when requests land on different servers).
For the site owner, the presence of this cookie indicates the site runs on AWS infrastructure with load balancing and session affinity enabled.
Does it require consent?
Under CookieFix's classification, AWSALBTG falls into the strictly necessary category. It is essential for the site's basic technical operation (session stability on load-balanced infrastructure) and does not track visitors for marketing or analytics purposes.
- Under Article 5 of the ePrivacy Directive (transposed in Romania via Law 506/2004) and ANSPDCP guidance, strictly necessary cookies do not require prior visitor consent.
- The site owner should still disclose it in the cookie policy, listing the provider (AWS), purpose (load balancing/session stability), and duration.
- It should not be placed in categories requiring opt-in in the consent banner.
How to block or delete AWSALBTG
A visitor can delete or block AWSALBTG from browser settings (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari – per-site cookie management), but blocking it may cause session errors or loss of in-progress data on sites using sticky-session load balancing.
For site owners, since this cookie is strictly necessary, it should not be auto-blocked by a CMP before consent — only cookies in the statistics, marketing, and preferences categories need to stay blocked until acceptance. A platform like CookieFix makes this distinction automatically, blocking non-essential scripts until consent while letting technical cookies like AWSALBTG function normally.
Frequently asked questions
No. It's a technical infrastructure cookie used by AWS to correctly route traffic across servers, unrelated to behavioral tracking or advertising.
No, since it's strictly necessary for the site to function, it doesn't require visitor consent under ePrivacy and GDPR, but it should be listed in the cookie policy.
On sites using AWS load balancers with sticky sessions, blocking it can cause inconsistent behavior, such as unexpected logouts or lost data in multi-step forms.
They are related cookies, both generated by AWS Application Load Balancer for session affinity; they may differ in duration or usage context, but share the same general technical purpose.