How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
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Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#2Is it hard in practice to figure out who the anonymous ids are? I'm used to just having Segment identify calls.
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#3Is it hard in practice to figure out who the anonymous ids are? I'm used to just having Segment identify calls.
Good question, the idea in the post is once you know who the user is you make sure they load a page with a unique identifier on it that you can use to identify them.
As an example, think of a Shopify check out flow. Every user has a unique checkout url. Once they purchase you can use that checkout ID in your warehouse to join with the page view that had the anonymous Id on it. So you’ll have a page view with the anonymous Id with a url with a unique checkout Id that you can use to join to the ultimate identified user (assuming all your page view and Shopify data are in one place, your data warehouse).
Let me know if I understood your question!
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#4Author here - we've been able to identify anonymous users pretty consistently once they convert to becoming users. This talks about our approach and how to do it, while still following all the rules around tracking cookies, etc…
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#5Identity Resolution via warehouse is the future!!! I love this!
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#6Author here - we've been able to identify anonymous users pretty consistently once they convert to becoming users. This talks about our approach and how to do it, while still following all the rules around tracking cookies, etc…
Why do you talk about consent with regards to cookies only? GDPR deals with so much more with regards to tracking and identifiable information.
For example this quote from the article: "Add a unique identifier to all urls on your site when you know who the user is."
I don't see how our legal would allow us to do this with European customers without explicit opt-in consent since this kind of tracking and data processing cannot be deemed a legitimate requirement for the core function of the service.
If the same service can be given to the visitor without the unique identifier in the URL, then I see no way to avoid asking for consent.
https://gdpr.eu/recital-30-online-identifiers-for-profiling-...
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#7Author here - we've been able to identify anonymous users pretty consistently once they convert to becoming users. This talks about our approach and how to do it, while still following all the rules around tracking cookies, etc…
Why do you talk about consent with regards to cookies only? GDPR deals with so much more with regards to tracking and identifiable information. For example this quote from the article: "Add a unique identifier to all urls on your site when you know who the user is." I don't see how our legal would allow us to do this with European customers without explicit opt-in consent since this kind of tracking and data processi…
The identifier on the urls isn't meant to identify the actual user I think.
If you look at the examples given they're more like identifiers to something else -- an order id or subscription id.
Wouldn't tracking something like an order (but not the user directly) be ok with GDPR?
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you talk about consent with regards to cookies only? GDPR deals with so much more with regards to tracking and identifiable information. For example this quote from the article: "Add a unique identifier to all urls on your site when you know who the user is." I don't see how our legal would allow us to do this with European customers without explicit opt-in consent since this kind of tracking and data processi…
The identifier on the urls isn't meant to identify the actual user I think. If you look at the examples given they're more like identifiers to something else -- an order id or subscription id. Wouldn't tracking something like an order (but not the user directly) be ok with GDPR?
A company may store both customer data and order data and keep them under GDPR, because a particular customer provided it knowingly. The important piece is when a customer asks to be removed, the company must remove their customer data (e.g. their name and address) but the order information can remain orphaned in order to do analyses on revenue, orders, etc. The right to be forgotten is ONLY about customer data, not related anonymized identifiers that tie back to the previous customer's order history.
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#9So the overall concept of "shove a tracker value into the URL and collate all interactions" makes sense - but how do you track if a user is sharing a URL?
Let's say that I'm on a desktop browsing a shopping site. I'm on shopping.site/product/coolthing.html?tracker=12345. I share this with my friend on a mobile device because it looks like something of interest to them.
Now how do you handle the other person having the same tracker as the initial person? You end up with a scenario where two different people, with different interests, are browsing the site. Even if they convert you have situations along the lines of: no conversions, person A converts, person B converts, both convert. How do you handle this?
With cookies the sharing of the URL would avoid this scenario since cookies would be separated between people.
Re: How to track users for analytics in a privacy-first, cookie-less future
#10I'm mildly surprised cookie consent banners are only at 20%, given how often I come across banners who's only option is "Yes, I consent"