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What does not collecting too much data mean in practice? It seems a lot of analytics would be in the grey area, esp. when trying doing reverse geo lookups. A mo

What does not collecting too much data mean in practice? It seems a lot of analytics would be in the grey area, esp. when trying doing reverse geo lookups. A more simple example: can I use Apache which gathers people's IP addresses, browser info, referring links if I don't necessarily know how I'll use it?

NilsLoewe 10y ago
When you need the data to fulfill your business goal, it is ok (as long as your users know that you collect this type of data). What we encourage to avoid is "collecting everything, just in case..." As long as you anonymize things, analytics are fine :)
bahjoite 10y ago
An example: I have a website and I don't need to know the IP addresses, browser info or referrer urls of visiting User Agents. So allowing Apache to log that information would be "collecting too much data". Thus, Apache is configured with the following LogFormat[0] which associates an explicit format[1] with a nickname (here, "essential"):- LogFormat "%{%FT%T%z}t \"%r\" %>s %B %D %L" essential and in VirtualHost contexts, a CustomLog[2]:- CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log essential [0]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#logformat https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#lo... [1]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#formats https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#fo... [2]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#customlog https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#cu...
matt4077 10y ago
IP addresses have been ruled to be "personal identifying information" in Europe, which is why Googla analytics offers an option to anonymize the last set of digits.
adrianN 10y ago
You can get in trouble in the EU if you log IP addresses without explicit consent: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/european-officials-google-yahoo-microsoft-breaking-law https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/european-officials-goo...
- surfmike 10y ago
  Interesting, so basically everyone running web servers with default settings is breaking the law.
- usrusr 10y ago
  Which leads us to the unfortunate lack of a good "don't provoke avoidable user agreement inflation" manifesto. Perfect hiding place for "agreeing" to the much more nasty stuff.

NilsLoewe 10y ago

When you need the data to fulfill your business goal, it is ok (as long as your users know that you collect this type of data). What we encourage to avoid is "collecting everything, just in case..." As long as you anonymize things, analytics are fine :)

bahjoite 10y ago

An example: I have a website and I don't need to know the IP addresses, browser info or referrer urls of visiting User Agents. So allowing Apache to log that information would be "collecting too much data". Thus, Apache is configured with the following LogFormat[0] which associates an explicit format[1] with a nickname (here, "essential"):- LogFormat "%{%FT%T%z}t \"%r\" %>s %B %D %L" essential and in VirtualHost contexts, a CustomLog[2]:- CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log essential [0]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#logformat https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#lo... [1]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#formats https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#fo... [2]: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#customlog https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod_log_config.html#cu...

matt4077 10y ago

IP addresses have been ruled to be "personal identifying information" in Europe, which is why Googla analytics offers an option to anonymize the last set of digits.

adrianN 10y ago

You can get in trouble in the EU if you log IP addresses without explicit consent: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/european-officials-google-yahoo-microsoft-breaking-law https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/european-officials-goo...

surfmike 10y ago
Interesting, so basically everyone running web servers with default settings is breaking the law.
usrusr 10y ago
Which leads us to the unfortunate lack of a good "don't provoke avoidable user agreement inflation" manifesto. Perfect hiding place for "agreeing" to the much more nasty stuff.