Using Google Analytics is Illegal in Germany
Nov 26, 2009 17 Comments
News: The German government is trying to put a ban on Google Analytics. The penalties could amount up to €50,000 (about $75,000) per website that uses Google Analytics. I feel sorry for the German developers and designers. Source: Techcruch.
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Dec 07, 2009 11:44 am
Designi1
What F******? and why illegal? strange!!!
Dec 07, 2009 1:06 pm
Jason
There are some alternatives to Google Analytics out there such as http://www.haveamint.com and http://www.reinvigorate.net/.
Dec 07, 2009 2:01 pm
mee
Strange …
Well you have to use a disclaimer to use google anatylics …
Dec 08, 2009 8:52 am
aledesign.it
Incredible!! So strange this news! I don’t believe…
Dec 08, 2009 9:07 am
Geert
How od! Can you tell us why the German goverment has forbitten Google Analytics?
Dec 08, 2009 10:09 am
Bremdahl
They are affraid of what google collects? Okey, then i start gathering that information myself…
yeah, great idea
Dec 08, 2009 6:10 pm
Basic Websites
Here we go again with the Data Protection Act. As most visitors to websites would be anonymous and have changing IP addresses, I don’t see how they could use this information very much. Although I must admit Google are a lot cleverer than I am! I wonder how long before they try to force website owners to register under the Act?
Dec 08, 2009 8:56 pm
web design miami
well, that’s weird ! why is that ?
Dec 08, 2009 10:54 pm
John Doe
Well many data protection officers find it concerning that Google claims the right to gather your data, link it with other already saved data about you and sell that information to a third party.
On the other hand, you could just disable cookies…
Dec 14, 2009 7:11 am
blink4blog
excuse me… i think is Techcrunch not Techcruch
Dec 15, 2009 12:29 am
keith
wow this is unbelievable I want to hear a legit reason why. Seems stupid they better have something good to go with this.
Dec 29, 2009 2:47 pm
FreiKapitalist
Hi, I’m German, so let me tell you: It’s all about the Consumer. The Consumer in Germany is a faceless, brainless, uneducated, often times unemployed sad-sack with no self-esteem, no work-ethic, no idea of production or contribution and no interest in any political, educational, intellectual or any other potentially interesting affairs whatsoever.
It is a virtual entity made up by German burocrats who thus have created the perfect measurement for their unmeasurably unpractical, unintelligent and often times unlegal ways of keeping their backside bolted onto their tax-paid seats.
A US-based enterprise like Google who massively collects consumer data without any obligation of accountability and far beyond the control of German administratives is a potential enemy in the game of power played by burocrats around the world – hence an enemy of the Consumer.
No you know.
Jan 30, 2010 4:17 am
rawsta
FreiKapitalist is right.. in every aspect.. It’s also illegal to use akismet because of the collected data… In Germany we have the most idiotic burocrats of the world…
Mar 03, 2010 4:43 pm
blacktea
Yes, it’s all about the consumer. Because the consumer in Germany is protected by law to prevent malicious actions by companies. That’s a feature every consumer enjoys and in my opinion it’s the job of the state to protect its citizens!
The law which forbides the usage of Google Analytics has been widely discussed. As you might know, people are granted privacy by law, unlike in the United States. The problem of Google Analytics is, that the collected data is transferred to servers outside of the European Union where the measures for privacy can not be guaranteed. If Google would understand the privacy concerns of many German citizens (which really exist!) they would agree about not transferring the collected data to a datacenter outside of the European Union. But Google doesn’t grant this option and so the usage of Google Analytics is violating european law (!). Germany is the first country which applies to this law.
I think it’s not about being sorry for German developers and designers, it’s about how you care about your visitors and how you respect their privacy.
Jan 14, 2010 8:45 am
BigM75
sh..t! wieso das den, nunja auf der einen Seite durchaus nach zuvollziehen aber auch unverständlich irgendwie wird wehemend gegen Google geschossen
Feb 17, 2010 9:09 am
Weddings Fashion
It’s all about the Consumer. The Consumer in Germany is a faceless, brainless, uneducated, often times unemployed sad-sack with no self-esteem, no work-ethic, no idea of production or contribution and no interest in any political, educational, intellectual or any other potentially interesting affairs whatsoever.
Apr 22, 2010 6:22 pm
DEDEDE
Well, actually it sounds like a money making scheme to able prop up the government in these hard economic times. It sounds like they even want to fine non-german sites that use the technology, the article is unclear on this. I wonder if they understand that germans have to leave the country to visit the majority of the (non-german languaged) sites on the web where german law has no meaning.