Google Analytics

[SunSailor]

For now, it seems necessary to add a privacy page with a long text to your site, if you're using Google Analytics in germany, if not, you're in danger to receive a dissuasion, which costs you around 2.5k Euros. What I would like to know, is this already necessary in other countries or is that again german law madness, as we can experience it here every day? What do you think about the use of Google Analytics at all?

[sivael]

Not yet in Poland. But we were always a few steps behind according to some historicians xD
But soon. Don't worry:P
I used it on our site once but it was some kind of trial or something. Quite nice I'd say.

[reptor]

Well, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

The Internet is quite a wild place and I think it's good if people are warned about it. And it's good if possible privacy offenders are kept in check at least somehow.

I think it is fair that if you want to collect information, even anonymous statistical analysis, that you should tell that you are doing it to the people who visit your website. No harm done, just tell things up front and you are (in my opinion) more respected than the ones who just collect the information sneakily, without telling anyone.

There are other things in Germany which worry me much more than this kind of legislation. But that's another story and I won't talk about it here

[dr_amr]

I use http://piwik.org instead.

[sinbad]

For now, it seems necessary to add a privacy page with a long text to your site, if you're using Google Analytics in germany, if not, you're in danger to receive a dissuasion, which costs you around 2.5k Euros.

Wow, bonkers. Nothing like that in the UK AFAIK...

Personally I think all this stuff is pointless. People aren't going to get screwed by a site that uses Analytics, there are far worse things on the internet to be worrying about than this. Anyone who was really a threat just wouldn't bother with the legislation anyway. So it's possible to track my IP & perhaps cookies online via Analytics? Big deal, that and about a million other sites. Too much red tape and pointless attempts at protection.

[Nauk]

That is more or less german speciality. There are whole lawyer agencies only specialized in sending out legal warnings and cashing in immense fees for stuff like that. In other european countries warnings go without fee first and only if you don't adapt to it you have to pay. In germany private lawyers can send out warnings and cash in on the 1st warning, which naturally calls to be abused like there is no tomorrow. The german lawmakers don't seem to be able or have no intention to change it. One of the reasons I moved away from germany because it is a constant bother if you make your living with websites and internet applications. To increase the fun they come up with a new regulation every 5 weeks or so

Respecting peoples privacy is good and warning them about whatever statistical data collector too, but the way germany is putting those laws into action is very business hostile, which isn't really necessary that way. The whole industry and the more serious IT-press like c't / www.heise.de , etc is pretty much upset about the whole situation long since.

Funny when we had our first swedish customer he looked at me like I would be some sort of a german lunatic when I advised him for the sake of european dataprotection laws to put a german-style imprint with the whole disclaimer shebang on the website. Sweden is way more relaxed about all bureaucratic matters. You know the madness in germany goes even that far that you can receive a costly warning when you don't spell out the phone number of the website owner with country code in front of it? Just nuts.

If you want to be on the secure side, the german IHK -> http://www.ihk.de/ has all relevant info material where you can read up on the latest required standards for websites. Here is a good source for a regularly updated disclaimer sample you can use as a free service: http://www.juraforum.de/disclaimer_muster/

Google Analytics is a good service, and very nice if you don't get a statistictool preinstalled from your hosting company.