Google Analytics Is a Privacy Disaster — And Most Websites Don't Care
Every time you visit a website, there's a good chance Google is watching. Not in some abstract, tinfoil-hat kind of way — but through a small snippet of JavaScript embedded on over 28 million websites worldwide. That snippet is Google Analytics, and it has quietly become one of the largest surveillance systems ever built for the open web.
What Google Analytics Actually Collects
Most website owners install Google Analytics to see simple metrics: how many people visited, which pages are popular, and where traffic comes from. Seems harmless enough. But the data collection goes far beyond that.
Here's a partial list of what Google Analytics can collect:
Your IP address (which reveals your approximate location)
Device and browser fingerprint (screen resolution, language, operating system, browser version)
Full browsing behavior on the site (pages viewed, time spent, scroll depth, click events)
Referral data (which site or search query brought you there)
Cross-site tracking data (Google can correlate your activity across millions of sites using its cookies and identifiers)
Demographic and interest data inferred from your broader Google profile
And here's the kicker: this data doesn't just serve the website owner. It feeds directly into Google's advertising machine.
The Real Business Model: You Are the Product
Google Analytics is free. That should be the first red flag. Google doesn't offer a world-class analytics platform to millions of websites out of generosity. The real value proposition is simple: in exchange for "free" analytics, website owners voluntarily install Google's tracking infrastructure on their sites, giving Google an unprecedented view of web traffic across the entire internet.
This data powers Google's advertising network, which generated over $237 billion in ad revenue in 2023 alone. Website owners essentially become unpaid data collection agents for Google's ad business.
"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product." This isn't just a catchy phrase — it's Google Analytics' entire business model.
The Legal Reckoning: GA Is Illegal in Parts of Europe
The privacy concerns around Google Analytics aren't just theoretical. Regulators have taken action.
In 2022, a wave of rulings from European data protection authorities declared Google Analytics illegal under the GDPR:
Austria — The Austrian Data Protection Authority (DSB) ruled that using Google Analytics violates GDPR because data is transferred to the US without adequate protection.
France — The CNIL ordered websites to stop using Google Analytics, calling the US data transfers non-compliant.
Italy — The Garante ruled Google Analytics unlawful and gave companies 90 days to comply.
Denmark, Norway, Finland — Similar warnings and rulings followed across Scandinavia.
The core issue? Google Analytics sends European users' personal data to servers in the United States, where it's subject to US surveillance laws like FISA Section 702 and Executive Order 12333. European regulators concluded there's no meaningful way to protect that data from US government access.
GA4 Didn't Fix the Problem
Google's response to this legal pressure was Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which it positioned as a more privacy-friendly version. But let's be honest about what actually changed:
IP anonymization is now default — but Google still receives the full IP before truncating it. The data still crosses the Atlantic.
Cookieless tracking options exist, but GA4 still uses cookies by default and relies on Google Signals (which links data to logged-in Google accounts).
Data retention settings let you limit how long data is stored — but Google's own data processing for ad purposes operates under separate, opaque terms.
Server-side tagging is marketed as a privacy solution, but it still sends data to Google's servers. You're just adding a middleman.
GA4 is a privacy facelift, not a privacy fix.
The Consent Problem Nobody Talks About
Even setting aside the transatlantic data transfer issue, there's a more fundamental problem: meaningful consent is nearly impossible.
Cookie consent banners have become ubiquitous, but studies consistently show:
Most users don't read them — they click "Accept All" to make the banner disappear.
Dark patterns are everywhere — "Accept" is a big green button; "Manage Preferences" requires five more clicks through confusing menus.
Users don't understand the implications — consenting to "analytics" sounds harmless, but they're actually consenting to feeding a global ad surveillance network.
Consent is not truly "free" — when every website demands consent, consent fatigue turns it into a meaningless ritual.
GDPR requires consent to be informed, specific, and freely given. The current cookie banner circus meets none of those criteria in practice.
What Website Owners Can Do Instead
The good news is that privacy-respecting analytics alternatives have matured significantly. You don't have to sacrifice useful insights to respect your visitors' privacy.
Here are some solid alternatives:
Plausible Analytics — Lightweight, open-source, EU-hosted, no cookies, fully GDPR compliant. Under 1KB script vs. Google's 45KB+.
Fathom Analytics — Privacy-first, simple dashboard, no personal data collection. EU isolation available.
Umami — Self-hosted, open-source, lightweight. You own 100% of the data.
Matomo — Feature-rich, self-hosted or cloud option. GDPR compliant with proper configuration.
Simple Analytics — No tracking, no cookies, EU-based. Intentionally minimal.
These tools prove that you can understand your audience without surveilling them.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most website owners don't use Google Analytics because it's the best tool — they use it because it's free and familiar. They install it during setup, never question it, and in doing so, they silently enroll every visitor into Google's data collection apparatus.
As a website owner, you have an ethical responsibility to the people who visit your site. Every analytics tool you install is a choice about how much of your visitors' data you're willing to hand over to a trillion-dollar advertising company.
Google Analytics isn't just a privacy concern. It's a privacy disaster — one that's been normalized to the point of invisibility. It's on nearly every website. It feeds the largest ad network in history. It's been ruled illegal in multiple countries. And most people have no idea it's even there.
It's 2024. We have better tools. We have stronger regulations. We have no more excuses. It's time to ditch Google Analytics.