Sites that use Google Analytics in a way that does not comply with the EU Regulation violate data protection legislation by transferring users’ personal data to the United States.

This is just the latest in a series of decisions made by regulatory bodies across the European Union. The problem is that the user data collected by the portals through Google Analytics are transferred to the United States, where Google is located with a different legislation from ours, and without an adequate level of data protection.

The violation of the data protection rules concerns all Italian managers of public and private websites to use Google Analytics, who must be aware of the fact that the transfer of data to the United States through the web analysis service offered by Google violates the GDPR.

Use of Google Analytics itself is not illegal, but transfers made to the United States through GA are. The Guarantor warns that all data controllers are required to verify the compliance of the methods of use of cookies and other tracking tools used on their websites, with particular attention to Google Analytics and other similar services, with the legislation on personal data protection.

In particular, the IP address constitutes personal information which, even if broken, can be reconstructed with the means available by Google which crosses the data with the others in its possession.

The Guarantor and Personal data in Google Analytics

The Guarantor for the protection of personal data in Italy follows in the footsteps of the Austrian and French authorities and declares the use of Google Analytics on our territory illegal. Since the information collected on visitors is then transferred to a country without an adequate level of protection. that is the United States.

For our customers we have identified the following alternative solutions to be used until the situation between Google and the Guarantor is resolved:

• Matomo is one of the best solutions for those looking for a complete and accurate statistics service almost like Google Analytics. Which does not reconstruct anonymous data in any way.
• Simple Analytics is another statistics service that focuses firmly on respecting privacy with a simple and clean interface to access the various details to find out more about visitors.
• Fathom Analytics is a third statistics service dedicated to respecting data, in fact only the most important metrics are collected. Among the tools are the bypass of ad blocks and the ability to create regular reports
• Plausible Analytics of an open-source type, proposing itself as an alternative to the more privacy-friendly Google Analytics. The interface is minimalist yet offers a lot of insights.