Google Analytics introduces EU domains and may continue to exist in the Netherlands

In early 2022, the world of the Internet was turned upside down. The news that Google Analytics would be banned in the Netherlands for lack of privacy rocked the Internet world. Meanwhile, the biggest scare has passed, and what turns out; Google Analytics, with the help of a change in the rules, remains available just 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. What path does the user take? On which very page does he or she click away? Which Call To Action creates 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 threatened its survival within the Netherlands. Indeed, data from websites was digitally shipped to the United States by Google Analytics. And the latter is against the AVG law. In fact, that legislation states that all data from Google Analytics must stay within Europe. The Austrian privacy regulator DSB raised 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 today’s era where privacy is more important than ever, we could argue that it is. The fact that data crossed over to the United States brought with it the necessary risks. In fact, an AVG/GDPR law is lacking in the US. This allowed third parties to access the data, which is in complete violation of the laws we have in Europe.

Change

This incident prompted Google Analytics to make a change. As of today, Google Analytics has introduced EU domains resulting in data from websites not leaving Europe. Google Analytics also promises that no IP addresses are collected. With this adjustment, Google Analytics again stepped within the rules of the AVG legislation and avoided the risk of disappearing from the Netherlands.

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. This allows you to use Google Analytics again, privacy-friendly. All’s well that ends well of a saga that seemed unending.