According to the decision of the European data protection authorities, the use of Google Analytics poses a risk to website users whose data is collected and transferred to the United States. However, personal data can also be collected in ways that meet the criteria of data protection legislation.
European data protection authorities have determined that the use of Google Analytics violates the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.
Personal data collected through Google Analytics has been transferred by Google to the United States, making it possible for US intelligence services to examine personal data unless it is properly protected.
The French supervisory authority CNIL has ordered the administrator of a French website to change their handling of personal data and, if necessary, to cease using Google Analytics under current conditions.
Currently, in addition to France, the Netherlands and Austria within the EU have also found Google Analytics to be against data protection legislation. It is expected that other countries will also respond to this as the year progresses.
What if Google Analytics can no longer be used in Europe?
Google Analytics has become the industry “standard” for measuring site traffic and user actions on websites. Actions based on analytics have been used in site optimisation, and Google advertising is largely targeted using this data.
If the use of Google Analytics is banned throughout the EU, this will cause a substantial amount of work for website and webshop administrators.
Although Google Analytics is widely used, it is entirely replaceable.
Three alternatives to collect and maintain analytics in the future
If Google Analytics is banned in the EU area, or you want to take full control of your webshop’s or online service's analytics data and ensure that the data remains within the EU area, we have listed three good alternatives to Google Analytics.
In these services, data can be stored within the EU area without violating data protection legislation.
Matomo Analytics
Matomo is an open-source analytics software that can be manually installed on a server or in the cloud. It can perform much the same user tracking as Google Analytics.
Matomo easily scales to even the most demanding needs, as Matomo provides access to raw data, which can be exported to external systems in the desired format. Google Analytics uses data sampling and makes the best estimate based on this, whereas Matomo uses the entire data set behind the analytics. Matomo also has its own Tag Manager, which operates on the same principles as Google's equivalent.
Crasman has added Matomo Analytics to its offerings.
Piwik Pro
Piwik Pro Enterprise is the big brother of Matomo Analytics. In addition to all the features of Matomo, it includes, for example, Consent Manager and integrations with Google Ads and Google Search Console.
Piwik Pro caters more to the needs of Google Analytics 360 users. The software can be installed on your own server, in the cloud provided by Piwik Pro in the EU area, or in your own cloud environment.
Plausible
Plausible is a very lightweight, open-source analytics software that can be installed on your own server or in the cloud.
If most of Google Analytics's features have remained unused by you, and you are satisfied with visitor counts, the most popular pages, sources of website traffic, and simple events and goals, Plausible might be a good alternative for you. The software is designed to be so simple that it can be used without advanced training or experience.
If you want to hear more about data analytics, its options, or wish to develop your service's analytics, get in touch!
{{cta('5da54e68-0866-4977-badb-9170077e3238')}}
Read more about the topic:
Crasman Ltd
16 Feb 2022
