Web Analytics Privacy: Consent and GDPR Considerations

Databuddy provides cookieless analytics and configurable collection controls. Those features do not automatically make a website compliant or exempt its analytics from consent requirements.

GDPR and Web Analytics

GDPR governs processing of personal data within its scope. Browser-storage and tracking rules also matter: replacing cookies with localStorage does not, by itself, remove those obligations.

What Counts as Personal Data?

Names and emails are direct examples. User IDs, online identifiers, location, and event details can also relate to an identifiable person. Hashing an identifier or omitting a name does not necessarily make the data anonymous.

Review the complete payload: URLs, page titles, attribution parameters, custom properties, errors, and optional user profiles. Read the GDPR text for its definitions and scope.

Legal Basis for Processing

The website owner determines the purpose and legal basis for collection. A basis for processing personal data does not automatically exempt access to browser storage from consent requirements.

Some jurisdictions allow limited audience measurement without consent when specific conditions are met. Do not assume your configuration qualifies. CNIL's analytics guidance explains conditional exemptions and national variation.

Databuddy's Collection Controls

• The browser tracker uses localStorage for visitor information and sessionStorage for session information, without analytics cookies.
• Visitor IDs are salted and hashed by default; the website's anonymizeVisitorIds setting can change this behavior.
• Standard analytics event records omit raw IP addresses after request handling and approximate country, region, and city lookup.
• Global Privacy Control, Do Not Track, and stored opt-out settings are honored.
• Optional identify() calls link activity to the supplied profile ID and traits. These profile IDs are not anonymized by the visitor-ID setting.
• URL paths, titles, properties, and errors may contain personal information even when identification is disabled.

See Security & Privacy for configuration details and the Data Policy for processing and service-provider roles.

Implementation Guide

Step 1: Assess Current Analytics

List the features you use, the information each sends, storage and retention, recipients, and processing locations. Include AI analysis and configured delivery integrations in that review.

Step 2: Configure Collection and Consent

Enable only the measurements you need. Review path masking, custom properties, user identification, and visitor-ID anonymization settings.

Where prior consent is required, delay loading the tracker until consent is granted. Test both refusal and withdrawal in the browser. A privacy notice or opt-out button alone is not a substitute for prior consent when it is required.

Step 3: Update Your Privacy Notice

Describe what you actually collect, why, the legal basis, retention, recipients, and how visitors can exercise their rights. Include optional profiles and AI processing when enabled. Avoid copying a notice that says all data is anonymous without checking your own setup.

Step 4: Verify the Implementation

Inspect network requests and browser storage on representative pages. Test custom events, errors, identification, opt-out, and consent withdrawal. Check that sensitive information is masked or excluded before it is sent.

Data Subject Rights

Visitors should contact the website owner about information collected through that website. Databuddy assists customers with requests concerning information processed on their behalf. The ability to locate a record depends on the identifiers and information available; the absence of a name does not itself remove legal protections.

Our Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement describe the respective responsibilities. For assistance, contact privacy@databuddy.cc.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a consent banner with Databuddy?

That depends on your collection, configuration, and applicable rules. Databuddy's cookieless tracker is not a blanket exemption from consent.

Is server-side tracking automatically compliant?

No. Moving collection to a server does not change whether the information is personal data or remove the need to meet the applicable requirements.

Does Databuddy process everything in the EU?

Processing locations depend on the infrastructure, AI providers, and connected services used by the configured features. Refer to the Data Policy and request current provider and transfer information when assessing your deployment.

What about other privacy laws?

Assess the laws that apply to your users and processing. GDPR, UK rules, and state privacy laws have different scopes and requirements; a product setting does not establish compliance with all of them.