WASHINGTON — Responding to criticism from civil liberties advocates, the Obama administration said Friday it has strengthened consumer privacy protections on the government’s health insurance website as a new sign-up season nears.

HealthCare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan said in a blog post the Web page will have a new “privacy manager” that lets consumers opt out of embedded connections to third-party advertising, analytics and social media sites.

In addition, if a consumer has enabled the “Do Not Track” setting on their browser, the government will automatically honor their preferences as it relates to receiving digital advertising from HealthCare.gov.

A civil liberties group that previously had criticized the administration said the latest changes show a strong commitment to protecting privacy.

Still, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said there’s room for improvement.

“We applaud HealthCare.gov’s decision to support ‘Do Not Track’ and give their users strong privacy controls,” said Cooper Quintin, a staff technologist with the foundation.

“We think that this is a great first step (and) would be thrilled to see more organizations, both public and private, follow their lead.”

HealthCare.gov’s 2016 sign-up season starts Nov. 1, just a few weeks away.