Data privacy and web analytics tools across Europe
- 12 months ago
- 1 min read
Recently, Austria’s data protection watchdog reported that the use of Google Analytics is a breach of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The watchdog found that there weren’t enough safeguards put into place to protect users from being identified.
In addition, sensible information is passed from the EU to the US, violating data transfer laws covered by the GDPR.
Using our search engine, we identify nearly nine million European websites that use Google Analytics. Given this risk to privacy protection, European website owners might need to look for other web analytics alternatives.
Our data shows that currently Yandex Metrica is the runner-up to Google Analytics in Europe. Russian-owned Yandex Metrica may, however, pose additional or similar risks as others have pointed out.
In addition to the two big players, Piwik and Statcounter appear to be two other popular alternatives used at the moment. With both of these companies being headquartered in EU countries (Poland & Ireland), users can expect more likely compliance with GDPR.