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Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

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Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#381

Post by mwint »

scoutt wrote: post #358
mwint wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> any data what-so-ever sent to a 3rd party without my knowledge or consent is too much So do you want “we want to load JS from a CDN like literally everyone does, is that okay” popups on every website?

As long as Personal Data isn't being trasferred, there is no need to ask.

That CDN will know your IP and what site you’re from, and likely can do a decent job correlating visits with other sites.

The internet is just not designed for privacy at a technical level.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#382

Post by openplatypus »

Luckily there is plenty to choose from.

We entered the market recently with Wide Angle Analytics https://wideangle.co. But there is plenty alternatives. Depending on your needs.

Some focus on visuals, we focus on filters and soon attribution. There is more on the list: https://european-alternatives.eu/category/web-analytics-serv...

Competition is a healthy thing. You DON'T HAVE TO use Google Analytics :)

And if you wonder, yes, the fines are real. Enforcement of GDPR is picking up the pace: https://wideangle.co/blog/you-might-be-facing-gdpr-fine

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#383

Post by germanier »

simion314 wrote: post #362
germanier wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, it's perfectly legal (and usual practice) to contract out the operation of people counting devices that just tally up how many persons go through a door. (By the way, a gym can and usually does share contract data including personal information with numerous third-parties such as external bookkeepers. This is legal under the GDPR without explicit consent.)

>By the way, a gym can and usually does share contract data with numerous third-parties such as external bookkeepers. This is perfectly legal under the GDPR) Why is it legal, does the gym need those 100 contractors to know my data for it to work? What are those for 100 different accountants? How did gyms or other businesses worked before the internet, did a guy walked to 100 different locations with papers in hand so…

Yes, before there was electronic bookkeeping businesses hauled stacks of paper to their accountant. This is standard business practice since literally centuries.

If they want to send you a letter, they have to give your data to the postal service. Again, no consent needed.

This is legal because our whole economy is based on devision of labor. Privacy laws account for that.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#385

Post by f-jin »

judge2020 wrote: post #355
waffleiron wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To fall out of scope of the CLOUD act, the subsidiary needs to be independent and prevent any data access by its holding company. The holding company can in no way have "possession, custody or control", which are not well defined so that doesn't make it easier to assess if a subsidiary is out of scope. https://jnslp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Defining-the-Sc...

So is it likely the European Commission did this in an attempt to block US companies from offering internet services to the EU (or at least, internet services that handle user info)? It's pretty hard to make a profit or operate in the EU if you literally can't control that entity.

> So is it likely the European Commission did this in an attempt to block US companies from offering internet services to the EU

More like the European Commission did this in an attempt to protect European citizens from having their personal data exfiltrated against their will to the US on order of US law enforcement agencies.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#386

Post by zelphirkalt »

M2Ys4U wrote: post #297
yrgulation wrote: post #276

Wondering if this will also apply to gmail, google drive and so on. Also wondering if there is a way to agree to storing my data in the us. Nonetheless it appears that this a good opportunity for an eu based alternative to google analytics. Also what are the implications of cross eu-us chat apps where a person’s name is visible? Doesnt it mean that when a recipient in the us sees the name, the eu person’s data has be…

>Also wondering if there is a way to agree to storing my data in the us. Consent is always a valid legal basis for the processing, or transfer, of data. But it has to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.

Yep, and that means, that showing a huge, not easily dismissable popup basically demanding consent, just to watch a video or read an article, for which no tracking or cookies are necessary technically, is not really asking for consent and should be illegal.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#387

Post by nickpp »

vault wrote: post #367
nickpp wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder who are people more afraid of exposing their private information to: the USA or their own government.

The USA, of course. Don't forget you vote for your government, not for Google's CEO.

Google's CEO has pretty much ZERO powers over me. The USA government is (largely) democratic and (mostly) obeys laws. But my government... is not the one I voted for and I trust it 0%.

Because I do not live in the West but in one of the great majority of countries with a corrupt, abusive government. The democratic governments of the West are the exception, not the rule.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#388

Post by jimvdv »

eps wrote: post #337
AdriaanvRossum wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your concern. It's also an analytics service. But I believe we are very different [1]. We deliberately collect very little data [2]. There is a big difference between "a person's surfing data" or "surfing data of all visitors combined". That's what we promise with Simple Analytics. [1] https://blog.simpleanalytics.com/why-simple-analytics-is-a-g... [2] https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/what-we-collect

Here you go again, being coy. It's not an "also" analytics service. It _is_ an analytics service. If a website poped a question saying "Do you consent to your visit data being passed to Simple Analytics for processing?", how many people would say Yes? Close to zero. Just look at the stats on 3rd party cookie refusals - when done easily, the refusal rates are in high 90%. People may be lazy, but they sure as heck know…

I think the big difference here is that this platform sells a product to website owners who want to see how their visitors generally behave on their site, e.g which pages are most popular. That is a legitimate need.

The difference with GA is that GA offers to fill this need of website owners for free while it actually processes and sells the visitors data for immoral ends. The whole "the customer is the product" deal.

I don't understand why simply sending data from one server to another is seen as such a big deal, the problem with Google and Facebook and the rest is how they build extremely detailed personal profiles that they use to cause social harm. Surely that is very different from tracking which pages get the most views or how much time - on average - people spend on your website?

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#389

Post by foxfluff »

can16358p wrote: post #8

I don't like Google but seriously this whole GDPR thing is getting out of hand. Anyone who's concerned about their data being collected can just block Google-or-like-related domains. Rest is just making life of web developers/admins/tech company owners harder. Especially with these European intentions I frankly believe this is more of a political war against US and US-based companies. (No, I'm not from US as well)

> I don't like Google but seriously this whole GDPR thing is getting out of hand.

IMO it's the other way round: data collection and lack of respect for privacy got out of hand and has been like that for a long time now. It's finally coming under control, albeit slowly. This is not the end of it. And I'm super happy about GDPR.

> Anyone who's concerned about their data being collected can just block Google-or-like-related domains.

Why is it on the victims to protect themselves against illegal practices? We have courts and authorities for a reason.

If it stopped at Google, this would be easy. But GA is just tip of the iceburger.

> Especially with these European intentions I frankly believe this is more of a political war against US and US-based companies. (No, I'm not from US as well)

I don't believe that at all. But ultimately what I believe does not matter. I'm just happy that right to privacy online is finally becoming a thing.

Re: Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority

#390

Post by robertlagrant »

vultour wrote: post #56
robertlagrant wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's concerned about Google collecting data? No.

So we should accept facial recognition in public because there are people who don't care?

Amazing how you got there from me saying I don't have a grandmother who's bothered about this.
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