Is my analytical tool consistent with the GDPR?
Find out if your web analytics tool is compliant with the GDPR and the European Union's privacy laws.
The European Union Court of Justice has just enacted that cloud services hosted in the US do not comply with the GDPR or with European Union privacy laws, especially when it comes to web analytics.
There were already significant differences between the EU Privacy Act and the US Surveillance Act regarding the protection of personal data, which continue to grow following the European Union Court of Justice ruling. This ruling further calls into question the protection that U.S. privacy laws offer users.
With the invalidation of the US Privacy Shield, large software corporations such as Google and Microsoft are directly affected, as their servers are hosted in the US.
Any cloud service hosted in the US is unable to comply with the GDPR and EU privacy laws.
How does this affect my company if my analytics tool is hosted in the US?
Data protection has become a priority issue, and the Court's decision has an immediate effect. Following the ruling, companies with tools hosted in the US face significant penalties if they continue to process data from websites or visitors from the EU.
Data can only be sent to the US with the explicit consent of the user, who must be specifically informed about who can access their data and any possible risks.
Therefore, to avoid penalties for non-compliance with the GDPR, in the event that we are using cloud services that transfer personal data to the U.S. without ensuring an adequate level of data protection, it is appropriate to switch to providers whose tools are hosted in the European Union.
Google Analytics does not comply with GDPR regulations:
Any website that uses Google Analytics or any other cloud tool in the U.S. to track personal data, must seek the express consent of all users who visit your website. Users must be able to give specific consent for the use of their browsing data freely and after being informed that their data will be processed in the USA under less strict privacy laws.
Only if users freely specify their consent for the specific purpose they have been informed about will it be legally possible to track their data using Google Analytics.
MAS: The GDPR-compatible analytical tool
MAS is an analytical tool hosted on European Union servers. It is therefore a legally compliant alternative to Google's GDPR.
If your analytics software is MAS, these legal issues will not affect your company. It is not necessary to request tracking consent from web users, as user protection standards are always met.
Even if the user refuses to consent to the tracking of data, it will be possible to track it, so the results of the analyses will be much more accurate.
If the new European Court of Justice decision affects your web analytics software, MAS is a perfectly compatible solution with the GDPR.