Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a service of the U.S. company Google Inc., which is used for traffic analysis of web pages.

The service examines, inter alia, the origin of visitors, their time spent on individual pages and the use of search engines and thus allows a better follow-up of advertising campaigns.

History

Google Analytics is a further development of an originally derived from Urchin Software Corporation technology. The company Urchin was acquired by Google Inc. in March 2005. For this reason, the method used to analyze also called Urchin Tracking Monitor ( UTM).

Criticism

Privacy of user profiles

Regarded Privacy Legally Google Analytics is problematic and controversial. Google can create a complete user profile of visitors to a website with this analysis tool. If a notifiable Google service used by visitors, so that user profile can also be assigned to specific individuals. Additionally problematic is the storage of data in the U.S., which privacy is of less importance than give European countries.

The Telemedia Act in Germany can under § 12 para 1 TMG to the processing of personal data only when the user has given prior approval or a statutory authorization exists. By using a tool like Google Analytics but the complete IP address is sometimes transmitted ( a user-related information) of the site visitor to a third party (Google ), which may counteract the user's privacy. If the user has not previously consented, arise from the fact privacy problems. It is not yet clear legally, what legal basis to allow ( see § 12 para 1 TMG). Google Analytics is a service that behaves when calling a Web site anonymously. This means that the caller not only this interaction experiences with Google Analytics. It is therefore debatable whether such a transfer is prohibited. There are also legal difficulties. For example, a consent must " knowingly " carried out ( § 13 para 2 TMG).

The state commissioner for data protection in Schleswig -Holstein 2009 came to the conclusion that the use of Google Analytics by website providers is inadmissible .. Google changed in the future the functionality so that the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in September 2011 announced that Google Analytics can now be used subject to conditions. The requirements cover, among other things, that the entire IP address may be stored and Google must be contractually mandated to store the data from the operators of the website. Due to the new privacy policy of Google on the merging of data between services goes from sites which use Google Analytics, an increased risk for the self-determination right of the user from.

With this code add- a central demand of the data protection supervisory authorities has been met, although the question remains after the data protection law permitted contestation.

In Hesse, the use of Google Analytics by public bodies remains legally inadmissible.

For Switzerland, Google refuses to also introduce the above-mentioned conditions.

Protection of their own privacy

The collection of data tracks by Google Analytics can be avoided by loading and executing the Google Analytics script (which may also slow down the page loading ) is prevented.

This is done for example by blocking JavaScript ( for example through the Firefox extension NoScript, Ghostery or Ad Blocking ). Is also possible to block access to the Google Analytics google -analytics.com domain as a whole ( for example through ad blocker, by inclusion in a blacklist that offer many routers, or by using the hosts file).

On 25 May 2010, Google released a beta version of the Google Analytics Opt -out Browser Add- ons for Internet Explorer ( 7 and 8 ), Google Chrome (4.x and higher) and Mozilla Firefox ( 3.5 and later ). The add -on disabled, according to Google each data transmission over the Google Analytics Javascript.

Further processing of the data

Through the use of Google Analytics on the site for Google is transparent, since Google insight into the specific requests of the website gets. It is disputed whether this data from Google (Internal) are further processed or not.

Google could customize the search algorithm with the data obtained by Analytics for example. When web surfers who have an account with Google (and thus have the " Google cookie " stored in your browser ), Google would be technically able to link the collected data traces with a user account, and understand exactly who point at which website has stopped. This applies to all sites that use Google Analytics.

In addition, it is also conceivable that accurate information is stored about which products are how often, when and at what price sold in an online store. Even the detection of total monthly turnover would be possible.

Access to other services

By using the free Google Analytics easy connectability is given to other Google services such as Google AdWords or Google AdSense. Thus, the standard Analytics data with other information from these services can be enriched. Thus, additional circuits to the optimization of, for example, Google AdWords draw. Since October 2011, a link to the Google webmaster tools is possible. In addition, for some time an app for the Android operating system available that allows users on the go can retrieve statistics from Google Analytics. Since June 2012 Google also supports the retrieval of real-time data on the application .. Since 17 October 2012 supports the real-time analysis also filtered profiles