Alternatives to Google Analytics that are legal to use in the EU
Google Analytics is illegal to use in the EU because data are stored outside the EU (GDPR).
It can be made legal with a proxy, but it is a complex setup.
What good alternatives are there?
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https://usefathom.com/
https://usefathom.com/lite
note: I've never used them.
https://phpbackend.com/
Matomo is probably one of the bigger ones.
You can also check out Plausible.
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
According to which level of details you need to measure, both free and paid ways that Cloudflare offers for analytics are (allegedly) GDPR compatible (no PIIs are collected but I am not a lawyer). Their Web analytics, the free way, do not require to host your DNS with them.
There is also goatcounter.com, which could be self-hosted or not, but also GDPR compatible.
Umami.is looks beautiful.
Matomo can be self-hosted for free.
BTW, isn't GA4 GDPR compliant?
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
I just use GoAccess as a bash based log reader that gives me some basic stats: https://goaccess.io/
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No, data is stored in US.
And used to monitor your bowel movements along with how quickly you wipe
Chris on https://hostingforums.net/
+1 for Umami. Self-hosted and easy to use
Is this your opinion, or confirmed by some "GDPR expert/lawyer?"
GA4 is allegedly anonymized, with no IPs and personally identifiable data:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12017362?hl=en
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
Since I use Iubenda for compliance, I also read their articles a lot and take part in (GDPR)seminars. This might be a good read: https://www.iubenda.com/en/help/72356-google-analytics-4-all-you-need-to-know
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
The Danish Data Protection Agency posted the following yesterday, but I don't know if it includes GA4.
https://www.datatilsynet.dk/english/google-analytics/use-of-google-analytics-for-web-analytics
It would be nice if the problem can be solved with GA4.
I think such "nuances" are beyond the level of an average bureaucrat's comprehension.
Also, I'm sure Google will find a way to pay fulfill all the needed criteria to stay in the game.
Google are rushing and pushing the GA4, as far as I can tell, way before it's really production-ready (no AMP support still, for example). It may be with a good reason.
Technically, Matomo self-hosted with Hetzner is probably the safe bet regarding GDPR.
However, many US-based companies requesting verifiable visitor stats (website/domain sales, adverts etc.) still insist on GA stats (GA3 for that matter, lol - jsut to make things more interesting on occasion).
A bit off topic: i'm not sure about Cloudflare, whether that pleases the gods still, or is it forbidden.
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
Another +1 for Umami
Umami is the most popular one on PikaPods: https://www.pikapods.com/pods?run=umami
Simple and secure Borg Backup hosting from $2/month: BorgBase.com
We have been advised from legal department to ditch GA completely. There has been no evaluation from the competent local authority about GA4.
Sure, chances that you'll face any issue if you don't ditch GA are low. Google is obviously interested in making it compliant. OTOH, there are two local activist groups that try to nag PA sites and big corps sites with abstruse obnoxious requests if you use GA. So, legal departments suggest to sort-of "bail out" from Google to save up time. Mobbing has some effects
Plausible seems the best option for most people migrating from GA, since most stats can be easily imported. Matomo is fully fledged but has to be tuned in order to be compliant.
I didn't know about Umami, it seems sleek
Nicely explained.
After reading your post, my first thought was: "Plausible must have no reasonable free plan." And yes, I was right.
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
But you can always self-host it for free iirc: https://plausible.io/docs/self-hosting
https://plausible.io/docs/plausible-analytics-self-hosted-guides#:~:text=Plausible Analytics Self-Hosted is,install, host and manage yourself.
Regarding Step 3: "Creates an admin account (which is just a normal account with a generous 100 years of free trial)."
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
My bad - didn't find that.
Not that it's the simplest thing to install and configure judging by that article, but one can make it work. Cool.
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
Damn, I should really start learning Docker. Any decent TL;DR guide, or should I just read the official docs and start hacking?
Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.
Sir,
All the info you need is freely available online.
It is not our problem that you have not prepared for GDPR in time.
Though, for a small, symbolic fee, you could easily start with our SaaS solution.
Plausibly denying any shilling,
Plausible team
Detailed info about providers whose services I've used:
BikeGremlin web-hosting reviews
Umami
Web Development & SysAdmin services
Two more options.. CF Web Analytics or you can use CF Zaraz to proxy requests to GA server side