zlacker

>>Adriaa+(OP)
Creator here. As a developer, I install analytics for clients, but I never feel comfortable installing Google Analytics because Google creates profiles for their visitors, and uses their information for apps (like AdWords). As we all know, big corporations unnecessarily track users without their consent. I want to change that.

So I built Simple Analytics. To ensure that it's fast, secure, and stable, I built it entirely using languages that I'm very familiar with. The backend is plain Node.js without any framework, the database is PostgreSQL, and the frontend is written in plain JavaScript.

I learned a lot while coding, like sending requests as JSON requires an extra (pre-flight) request, so in my script I use the "text/plain" content type, which does not require an extra request. The script is publicly available (https://github.com/simpleanalytics/cdn.simpleanalytics.io/bl...). It works out of the box with modern frontend frameworks by overwriting the "history.pushState"-function.

I am transparent about what I collect (https://simpleanalytics.io/what-we-collect) so please let me know if you have any questions. My analytics tool is just the start for what I want to achieve in the non-tracking movement.

We can be more valuable without exploiting user data.

>>Adriaa+8
First off: hats off for making a product that takes the rights of the end user seriously!

However, I am a bit confused as to who would want this product. The sort of questions this product answers seem quite limited:

1. What URLs are getting lots of hits?

2. What referrers are generating lots of hits?

3. What screen sizes are those hits coming from?

What decisions can be drawn from those questions? This seems useful only to perhaps some blog, where they're wondering what sort of content is successful, where to advertise more, and whether to bother making a mobile website.

Without the ability to track user sessions -- even purely in localStorage -- you can't correlate pageview events. For instance, how would I answer a question like:

- How many high-interest users do I have? By "high interest", I mean someone who visited at least three pages on my website.

- Is a mobile website really worthwhile? How much of an effect does being on mobile have on whether someone will be "high-interest"?

I should think some anonymized user ID system -- even if it rotates anonymous IDs -- should be able to answer these questions without compromising privacy.

Also, I'll leave it to others to point out it's unlikely this product is exempt from GDPR.

>>ucario+hr
Since the creator points out that he doesn't store any IP addresses, he doesn't store any data that allows identifying an individual. For the GDPR to be applicable you need to store data that allows you to identify an individual. Thus when you use this, you don't have to think about GDPR.

>>boerna+iJ
I'm not so sure. By putting this service's code on your website, you transmit personal data (IP addresses) to this third party. That appears to make the GDPR applicable here? Transmission is considered "data processing" under the GDPR.

Really, the central point that should be clear is that this is a question for lawyers. The GDPR is incredibly far-reaching.

>>ucario+151
The IP necessary for the connection itself is covered under necessary data, you can process it for the purpose of a request without needing consent at all. Same applies to shopping cart cookies or anything else that is essential to running a website and isn't being used for secondary purposes like data mining.