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AFAIK Google Analytics doesn’t collect PII or aggregate that data in any way... or am I wrong?

obenn 8y ago
Not necessarily, but it still does grab a huge amount of data. Internet provider, device, session time, pages navigated during session and even ways to segment users across devices, using that data for testing or ad targeting. Not to mention I was able to unintentionally identify my neighbour browsing on one of my client’s sites using those metrics.
zavi 8y ago
It doesn't matter. Google is an American company and hence it is imperative to take it down by all means possible and promote a pure European alternative. If it means taking a hit by using an inferior product so be it.
Nextgrid 8y ago
It definitely collects them, as in Google is receiving that information. And just because they don’t show it to you doesn’t mean it’s not used internally in some subtle, undetectable-from-the-outside way (given their bottom line is directly linked to how well they can stalk everyone online to serve them ads).
lucideer 8y ago
Whether this is true or not depends on two things: 1. Your definition of PII. PII is defined in legislation in some states/countries, whereas other terms are used elsewhere. Some definitions are very loose, whereas for example, the EU definition of a close/equivalent (simply referred to as "personal data") is extremely strict (some might say too strict). If we take the EU definition, GA definitely collects "personal data" as it is 100% required to provide dashboard data on "unique visits". 2. Even if you take a looser definition of PII, by which Google could potentially provide all GA dashboard features without collecting any PII, you are still giving Google direct access to PII, and explicitly sending them some PII in some situations. So in this case, you're relying on your trust of Google's internal company policies on not storing that data that they receive. Given their track record in compliance with the law on data collection, there is very little reason to trust them.

Not necessarily, but it still does grab a huge amount of data. Internet provider, device, session time, pages navigated during session and even ways to segment users across devices, using that data for testing or ad targeting. Not to mention I was able to unintentionally identify my neighbour browsing on one of my client’s sites using those metrics.

zavi 8y ago

It doesn't matter. Google is an American company and hence it is imperative to take it down by all means possible and promote a pure European alternative. If it means taking a hit by using an inferior product so be it.

Nextgrid 8y ago

It definitely collects them, as in Google is receiving that information. And just because they don’t show it to you doesn’t mean it’s not used internally in some subtle, undetectable-from-the-outside way (given their bottom line is directly linked to how well they can stalk everyone online to serve them ads).

lucideer 8y ago

Whether this is true or not depends on two things: 1. Your definition of PII. PII is defined in legislation in some states/countries, whereas other terms are used elsewhere. Some definitions are very loose, whereas for example, the EU definition of a close/equivalent (simply referred to as "personal data") is extremely strict (some might say too strict). If we take the EU definition, GA definitely collects "personal data" as it is 100% required to provide dashboard data on "unique visits". 2. Even if you take a looser definition of PII, by which Google could potentially provide all GA dashboard features without collecting any PII, you are still giving Google direct access to PII, and explicitly sending them some PII in some situations. So in this case, you're relying on your trust of Google's internal company policies on not storing that data that they receive. Given their track record in compliance with the law on data collection, there is very little reason to trust them.