Bright spots for Google Analytics

The popular statistics program is under the magnifying glass of European privacy watchdogs because it would not comply with the GDPR / privacy legislation. On January 13, the Dutch Data Protection Authority even included a warning in its manual of Google Analytics, that Google may be violating the GDPR legislation.

• The data processed by Google is considered personal data, even in the case of IP anonymisation.
• The processing of this data in the United States as a result of legislation in force there is in violation of the GDPR, because 'third parties' (intelligence services) can gain access to this data without the user's prior consent.

It is not yet known what the agreement in principle between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden will look like. Max Schrems, the best-known complainant about privacy violations in the exchange of personal data between Europe and the United States, says in a response that he is waiting for the final text of the agreement between the EU and the US. "As soon as that text is available, we will analyse it thoroughly, together with our American legal experts".

For the time being, the Dutch Data Protection Authority has not yet made a decision. We therefore advise you to carefully check the Google Analytics settings to ensure that they are in line with your promises in the cookie notice. Since 2018, we have been advising you to set up Google Analytics anonymously and to disable the sharing of personal data with Google, so that the data collection is in accordance with the rules of the GDPR legislation. Or - in the case of marketing cookies - to register them correctly via the cookie notification and to inform the visitor about this correctly.

There are good alternatives to Google Analytics, with better protection of personal data, such as Piwik, Plausible analytics, Matamo and Simple analytics. But these are not free, and the privacy settings must also be adjusted. At the moment, a switch does not seem necessary, and we advise you to wait until there is more clarity.

• Of course, the stakes are high for the San Francisco-based data broker, so Google is protesting the charges.
• There has been a modest charm offensive with blog articles and the announcement that there will be an update to make it easier to implement the privacy settings in the 'old' Universal Analytics.
• The move to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is being accelerated in part by the turmoil, and Universal Analytics will be phased out in July 2023.

The message: GA4 measures in a completely different way, is ready for the changing online ecosystems, the cookie-free future and the stricter privacy rules.

In anticipation of the final decision from the Dutch Data Protection Authority, we advise you to check your settings in Universal Analytics and, above all, to get started with GA4. The same applies here: bring the privacy rules in line with the situation on your website.