Tag: Google Analytics

Garante statement: use of Google Analytics violates GDPR

29. June 2022

On June, 23, 2022, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) released a statement on the use of Google Analytics (GA) holding the view that the use of GA by Italian websites without otherwise applicable safeguards violates the GDPR.

Garante comes out as the third data protection authority within the EU that declares the transfer of personal data through GA illegal. Earlier this year, CNIL and the Austrian data protection authority delivered a decision each, both coming to the same conclusion, namely that the use of GA violates the GDPR.

What lead to this statement is that Garante had received a number of complaints. However, it is also the product of coordination with other European privacy authorities.

In its reasoning, Garante assigns a special role to cookies that help GA to collect personal data, such as the IP address, visited pages, type of browser, and the kind of operating system. Garante considers it as proven that personal data is being transferred to the US when using GA. Garante reiterates that IP addresses qualify as personal data and that the pseudoanonymisation undertaken by GA is not sufficient to protect personal data from being accessed from US governmental agencies.

Garante called on all controllers and processors involved in Italian website operations for compliance and ordered a period of 90 days to comply with their obligations under the GDPR. The statement further states: “The Italian SA calls upon all controllers to verify that the use of cookies and other tracking tools on their websites is compliant with data protection law; this applies in particular to Google Analytics and similar services.”

Google to launch Google Analytics 4 with aim to address EU Data Protection concerns

24. March 2022

On March 16, 2022, Google announced the launch of its new analytics solution, “Google Analytics 4”. Among other things, “Google Analytics 4” aims to address the most recent data protection developments regarding the use of analytical cookies and the transfers tied to such processing.

The announcement of this new launch comes following 101 complaints made by the non-governmental organization None of Your Business (NOYB) complaints with 30 EEA countries’ data protection authorities (DPA). Assessing the data transfer from the EU to the US after the Schrems II decision of the CJEU for the use of Google Analytics, the French and Austrian DPAs ruled that the transfer of EU personal data from the EU to the U.S. through the use of the Google Analytics cookies is unlawful under the GDPR.

In the press release, Google states that “Google Analytics 4 is designed with privacy at its core to provide a better experience for both our customers and their users. It helps businesses meet evolving needs and user expectations, with more comprehensive and granular controls for data collection and usage.”

However, the most important change that the launch of “Google Analytics 4” will have on the processing of personal data is that it will no longer store users’ IP addresses. This will limit the data processing and resulting transfers that Google Analytics was under scrutiny for in the EU, however it is unclear at this point if the EU DPAs will change their opinion on the use of Google Analytics with this new version.

According to the press release, the current Google Analytics will be suspended starting July 2023, and Google is recommending companies to move onto “Google Analytics 4” as soon as possible.

CNIL judges use of Google Analytics illegal

14. February 2022

On 10th February 2022, the French Data Protection Authority Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) has pronounced the use of Google Analytics on European websites to not be in line with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and has ordered the website owner to comply with the requirements of the GDPR within a month’s time.

The CNIL judged this decision in regard to several complaints maybe by the NOYB association concerning the transfer to the USA of personal data collected during visits to websites using Google Analytics. All in all, NOYB filed 101 complaints against data controllers allegedly transferring personal data to the USA in all of the 27 EU Member States and the three further states of European Economic Area (EEA).

Only two weeks ago, the Austrian Data Protection Authority (ADPA) made a similar decision, stating that the use of Google Analytics was in violation of the GDPR.

Regarding the French decision, the CNIL concluded that transfers to the United States are currently not sufficiently regulated. In the absence of an adequacy decision concerning transfers to the USA, the transfer of data can only take place if appropriate guarantees are provided for this data flow. However, while Google has adopted additional measures to regulate data transfers in the context of the Google Analytics functionality, the CNIL deemed that those measures are not sufficient to exclude the accessibility of the personal data for US intelligence services. This would result in “a risk for French website users who use this service and whose data is exported”.

The CNIL stated therefore that “the data of Internet users is thus transferred to the United States in violation of Articles 44 et seq. of the GDPR. The CNIL therefore ordered the website manager to bring this processing into compliance with the GDPR, if necessary by ceasing to use the Google Analytics functionality (under the current conditions) or by using a tool that does not involve a transfer outside the EU. The website operator in question has one month to comply.”

The CNIL has also given advice regarding website audience measurement and analysis services. For these purposes, the CNIL recommended that these tools should only be used to produce anonymous statistical data. This would allow for an exemption as the aggregated data would not be considered “personal” data and therefore not fall under the scope of the GDPR and the requirements for consent, if the data controller ensures that there are no illegal transfers.

Privacy Activist Schrems unleashes 101 Complaints

21. September 2020

Lawyer and privacy activist Maximilian Schrems has become known for his legal actions leading to the invalidation of “Safe Harbor” in 2015 and of the “EU-U.S. Privacy Shield” this year (we reported). Following the landmark court decision on the “EU-U.S. Privacy Shield”, Schrems recently announced on the website of his NGO “noyb” (non-of-your-business) that he has filed 101 complaints against 101 European companies in 30 different EU and EEA countries with the responsible Data Protection Authorities. Schrems exercised the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority that every data subject has if he or she considers that the processing of personal data relating to him or her infringes the Regulation, pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR.

The complaints concern the companies’ continued use of Google Analytics and Facebook Connect that transfer personal data about each website visitor (at least IP-address and Cookie data) to Google and Facebook which reside in the United States and fall under U.S. surveillance laws, such as FISA 702. Schrems also published a list of the 101 companies which include Sky Deutschland, the University of Luxembourg and the Cyprus Football Association. With his symbolic action against 101 companies, Schrems wanted to point to the widespread inactivity among many companies that still do not take the data protection rights of individuals seriously despite the recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In response, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) has set up a “task force” to handle complaints against European companies using Google Analytics and Facebook services. The taskforce shall analyse the matter and ensure a close cooperation among the members of the Board which consists of all European supervisory authorities as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor.

USA: Multi-Billion Dollar Class Action lawsuit against Google

4. June 2020

Google users in the USA accuse Google of tracking their surfing behaviour even though they use the incognito mode. The complaint was filed with the federal court in San Jose, California on Tuesday, June 2nd 2020.

Background of the lawsuit is the accusation of three Google users that “Google tracks and collects users’ browsing history and other information about web activity, regardless of what measures they take to protect it”. In other words, users accuse Google of tracking their behaviour through Google Analytics, plug-ins or apps, evaluating it and using it for advertising – despite using the incognito mode.

The complaint is based on a violation of US wiretapping laws and California Privacy laws. Each plaintiff is claiming $5,000.00 in damages. Since the three plaintiffs allegedly represent thousands more plaintiffs the volume of the lawsuit could run into billions.

Google spokesman Jose Castaneda denies the allegations, citing that by opening an incognito tab on Chrome, it is indicated that websites may continue to collect information about surfing behavior. The incognito mode is about the browser and the device used not storing this data. He announced that Google would take action against the accusations.