You need data to make your analytics work. So without it, your business can’t function. What would happen if Google Analytics got banned? Would you be ready to deal with it?
Whether you’re big or small, the need for transparency around data usage is only going to increase. The biggest tech companies have lost consumer trust. Do they actually look after data? Do they actually delete the data you ask them to?
Unfortunately, it’s just impossible to tell. The most important thing you can do for your business is take control of your data.
European Woes
Many believe that Google Analytics is in breach of GDPR and as a result, it gets a lot of attention from EU officials. Austria is a great example of this in action, where they believe the use of Google Analytics is illegal and have even kickstarted a court case against the tech giant. The impact of these types of cases is yet to be fully felt, but what would happen to your business if overnight you couldn’t legally use one of its most relied-upon services?
The fact is, European data, no matter where it’s stored, is subject to GDPR. This might contravene US privacy laws, but it doesn’t stop GDPR from being applied to that data. This might seem like it adds complications to the process of managing where your data is stored but in reality, it doesn’t. If you want to be compliant, and confident in your compliance, then just use services in the EU.
The scary thing for businesses is that you only find out you’re doing it wrong if you get caught out. You are expected to figure it out on your own. There is no organisation offering a free site checkup – these are all paid services. If you offer data storage, it doesn’t matter if you use Google or store it yourself – you are responsible for your infrastructure and the data you are storing for customers. This means being compliant, having the best technology and practices, and doing right by your customers at all times.
However, that can create serious pressure on businesses.
Google Analytics is a key Google product, mainly because it’s used so widely for web analytics. In this day and age, every business needs a digital presence if it wants to compete. On top of this Google Analytics integrates very effectively with Google Ads – but it isn’t the only way to run your analytics.
There Are Alternatives
If you use a service like Matomo or Piwik Pro, then you can choose where you store your data. So you can keep it in your own country. Of course, there are drawbacks, most given how easy it is to integrate that data into a larger tech stack, these things can be overcome.
By storing your data where you need to, rather than where a provider decides it wants you to, solves the privacy issue. That said, data security remains an issue. People do business with Google believing they don’t have to worry about security issues because a provider of that size is capable of delivering the highest level of security.
Again, other services exist. At whitesky.cloud we pride ourselves on our platform’s security and flexibility. And regardless if you’re using Google Analytics, Matomo, Piwik Pro, or any other solution, rest assured you can keep your data in the EU – always.
Concerned about privacy and security? Talk to whitesky.cloud today.
