Use of Google Analytics declared illegal by French data protection authority (cnil.fr)

Article summary

The French data protection authority, CNIL, has declared the use of Google Analytics illegal due to the transfer of personal data to the US. This decision follows a similar ruling in Austria and is based on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The CNIL found that Google Analytics assigns a unique identifier to each visitor, which constitutes personal data and is transferred to the US. This transfer is not considered to provide an adequate level of protection for European data.

Main themes

• GDPR compliance
• Google Analytics
• Data protection
• US-EU data transfer
• Website owner responsibility
• Privacy concerns

What commenters say

• The responsibility for ensuring GDPR compliance lies with website owners, not just Google.
• Google should be required to anonymize European traffic by default to comply with GDPR.
• The GDPR is overly restrictive and burdensome for web developers and tech companies.
• Individuals cannot be expected to take responsibility for protecting their own data, and companies must be held accountable.
• The use of Google Analytics is a minor issue compared to other privacy concerns, such as facial recognition and data collection by secret services.
• The EU's actions against Google and other US-based companies are seen as a political move rather than a genuine attempt to protect user data.
• Website owners do not necessarily need analytics tools like Google Analytics to operate effectively.
• The GDPR has led to annoying cookie banners and has not effectively protected user data.