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Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

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Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#71
post #17

As far as I understand it, it's not Google Analytics per se that is illegal, but the data transfer to the US. If Google Analytics would use servers on European ground it should be fine. Or would that still violate GDPR as Google as an American company can still be coerced to give access to data stored on their servers outside the US? But I can't imagine that to be the case, as it would effectively mean that any busin…

As far as I can tell this ruling means that transfering PII to any company/service controlled by an American company is illegal per the GDPR.

I work for a European company that is already being impacted by this ruling. Our first step is to replace Google Analytics, but I believe we are also looking through all cloud usage for any traces of PII.

I think this is a huge opportunity for European companies to get a foothold in the Analytics/Ads/Cloud/Office spaces. Perhaps also an opportunity for good open source alternatives, like Matomo Analytics, to get adopted.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#72

The CLOUD Act itself is the issue. Don't use MS Office 365 or any other US based service even if their servers are in Europe as they can not guarantee that your data is not accessible by the US. Amazon and Cloudflare are all great service but your data is under US jurisdiction.

So the entire EU is going to be forced to use Open Office or some other equivalent? Non tech people will hate this and it will cripple many businesses that rely on Microsoft Excel. You'd be surprised how much of the world economy is based on emailing Excel sheets back and forth

You can use MS Office without putting everything on the cloud. Excel doesn't need to go, and you can still use Excel online for calculations that don't include personal information, which should suffice for most businesses.

Just don't upload that CSV containing all of your customers to Microsoft, that shouldn't be too hard.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#73
It's pretty ridiculous how much bloat there is in Google Analytics anyway. Their interface hasn't gotten any better over the years. Sorting through behavioral visits will sometimes crash the browser tab. A lot of open-source platforms can do super specific analytics while also remaining privacy-friendly.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the entire EU is going to be forced to use Open Office or some other equivalent? Non tech people will hate this and it will cripple many businesses that rely on Microsoft Excel. You'd be surprised how much of the world economy is based on emailing Excel sheets back and forth

Why not now force the EU to heavily invest in libreoffice so that it becomes a drop replacement to excel? I'm sure the European union can spare some euros to make it possible and this isn't even a utopian dream that can't be achieved. It just needs a good push

> Why not now force the EU to heavily invest in libreoffice so that it becomes a drop replacement to excel?

The history of this strategy working, versus becoming a job/contract bank for cronies over time, is very poor in the long run. Regardless of the political system which attempts it.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#75
post #17

As far as I understand it, it's not Google Analytics per se that is illegal, but the data transfer to the US. If Google Analytics would use servers on European ground it should be fine. Or would that still violate GDPR as Google as an American company can still be coerced to give access to data stored on their servers outside the US? But I can't imagine that to be the case, as it would effectively mean that any busin…

The various shields for EU->US datatransfer, agreed before and after GDPR, have been found incompatible with GDPR even if only potential. It's just that nobody has sued anybody yet, as the industry silently scrambles to look for alternatives.

There is the law, and then there is enforcement of the law, and the latter has not fully happened yet.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#76

The CLOUD Act itself is the issue. Don't use MS Office 365 or any other US based service even if their servers are in Europe as they can not guarantee that your data is not accessible by the US. Amazon and Cloudflare are all great service but your data is under US jurisdiction.

What are solid european alternatives?

For servers, there is countless providers. Not nearly as big as the hyperscalers, but certainly sufficient.

Netcup, xTom, Hetzner, OVH, Scaleway just off the top of my head

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the entire EU is going to be forced to use Open Office or some other equivalent? Non tech people will hate this and it will cripple many businesses that rely on Microsoft Excel. You'd be surprised how much of the world economy is based on emailing Excel sheets back and forth

Why not now force the EU to heavily invest in libreoffice so that it becomes a drop replacement to excel? I'm sure the European union can spare some euros to make it possible and this isn't even a utopian dream that can't be achieved. It just needs a good push

I like the theory however, I don't think a state owned and funded initiative could ever compete with Microsoft/Google/Amazon etc....

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#79
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about downloading content, it's about uploading content.

Quoted post unavailable.

Because corporations are deaf to constructive calls. Like, e.g. opt analytics in and not try to trick masses into it. An average person may or may not want to share, but they have no choice.

Re: Austria's data protection authority has found that Google Analytics is illegal

#80
post #64

I guess Plausible.io and similar are going to be drowning in cash in the next few months.

Looks great! But I feel that $9/month (up to 10k views) is a bit much for my personal website... I pay that much to Google now, but I get a whole suite of tools besides analyticsm, like email addresses (for my whole family under our surname as a domain, which is cool), my own domain (via GogoDaddy, but I got that via Google and pay Google only) and all the small business office tools they offer (though I think those…

Why do you need analytics for your personal website?
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