diff --git a/config/privacy/privacyConfig.go b/config/privacy/privacyConfig.go
index 900f73540b6..c73467089d5 100644
--- a/config/privacy/privacyConfig.go
+++ b/config/privacy/privacyConfig.go
@@ -112,12 +112,8 @@ type X struct {
 
 // DecodeConfig creates a privacy Config from a given Hugo configuration.
 func DecodeConfig(cfg config.Provider) (pc Config, err error) {
-	if !cfg.IsSet(privacyConfigKey) {
-		return
-	}
-
+	pc.GoogleAnalytics.RespectDoNotTrack = true
 	m := cfg.GetStringMap(privacyConfigKey)
-
 	err = mapstructure.WeakDecode(m, &pc)
 
 	return
diff --git a/tpl/tplimpl/tplimpl_integration_test.go b/tpl/tplimpl/tplimpl_integration_test.go
index b628989237a..3fb917a70e3 100644
--- a/tpl/tplimpl/tplimpl_integration_test.go
+++ b/tpl/tplimpl/tplimpl_integration_test.go
@@ -195,18 +195,35 @@ func TestGoogleAnalyticsTemplate(t *testing.T) {
 disableKinds = ['page','section','rss','sitemap','taxonomy','term']
 [privacy.googleAnalytics]
 disable = false
-respectDoNotTrack = true
+DNT
 [services.googleAnalytics]
 id = 'G-0123456789'
--- layouts/index.html --
-{{ template "_internal/google_analytics.html" . }}
+-- layouts/home.html --
+{{ partial "google_analytics.html" . }}
 `
 
-	b := hugolib.Test(t, files)
+	// default respectDoNotTrack value
+	f := strings.ReplaceAll(files, "DNT", "")
+	b := hugolib.Test(t, f)
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html",
+		`<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-0123456789"></script>`,
+		`if ( true )`,
+	)
+
+	// respectDoNotTrack = true
+	f = strings.ReplaceAll(files, "DNT", "respectDoNotTrack = true")
+	b = hugolib.Test(t, f)
+	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html",
+		`<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-0123456789"></script>`,
+		`if ( true )`,
+	)
 
+	// respectDoNotTrack = false
+	f = strings.ReplaceAll(files, "DNT", "respectDoNotTrack = false")
+	b = hugolib.Test(t, f)
 	b.AssertFileContent("public/index.html",
 		`<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-0123456789"></script>`,
-		`var dnt = (navigator.doNotTrack || window.doNotTrack || navigator.msDoNotTrack);`,
+		`if ( false )`,
 	)
 }