In early 2022, the world of the Internet was turned upside down. The news that Google Analytics would be banned in the Netherlands due to lack of privacy rocked the Internet world. Meanwhile, the biggest scare has passed, and what appears; Google Analytics remains, with the help of a change in the rules, simply available within our national borders.
Google Analytics is so woven into our strategy that we really can't live without it. After all, you want to accurately track a user on your website, from entry to click away. Which route does the user take? At which page does he or she click away? Which Call To Action generates the most conversions? All data that should make your website better in the long run.
Fearing for existence
However, it was Google Analytics that single-handedly jeopardized its survival within the Netherlands. Data from websites was in fact digitally shipped by Google Analytics to the United States. And that is against the AVG legislation. This legislation states that all data from Google Analytics must remain within Europe. The Austrian privacy regulator DSB sounded the alarm, after which the privacy organization NYOB filed a lawsuit. The result? Google Analytics had to fear for its existence in the Netherlands.
Safety
But was all the fuss about Google Analytics in early 2022 well-founded? In the current era where privacy is more important than ever, we can say that it was. The fact that data crossed over to the United States brought with it the necessary risks. An AVG/GDPR law is lacking in the US. This gave third parties access to the data, which is completely at odds with the legislation we have in Europe.
Change
This incident prompted Google Analytics to make a change. As of today, Google Analytics has introduced EU domains which results in data from websites not leaving Europe. Also, Google Analytics promises that no IP addresses will be collected. With this change Google Analytics stepped again within the rules of the AVG legislation and the risk of disappearing from the Netherlands has been avoided.
To see if this has already been converted for your website, you need to dive into the network tab of your developer tools. As mentioned in the screenshot, you can see that region1.google-analytics.com or region1.analytics.google.com in the Request URL. Then Google will know for sure that your website belongs within the European AVG rules. So you can use Google Analytics again, privacy-friendly. All's well that ends well of a saga that seemed endless.