How New Laws In The EU Impact Website Traffic Monitoring

You may have a plethora of great marketing and sales initiatives underway across many digital channels, but ultimately, your website is where your consumers are born. If you and your internet marketing agency don’t keep tabs on how people use your website, you can miss out on data that might lead to additional sales. This is true even if you are collecting metrics like click-through rates (CTRs), ROIs, and demographic data from all the channels you use to bring in customers.

However, you’ve probably heard of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as its periodic updates, the European Union’s new data protection regulation. It is designed to improve and standardize data collection from individuals inside the European Union, as well as to replace the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, which is currently regarded as obsolete.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its recent updates have an influence not just on European Union-based businesses but also on almost any company that engages with its customers, particularly when it comes to online customer data and website traffic tracking.

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What Is GDPR?

The GDPR is generally regarded as one of the most stringent privacy and security laws in the world. Even though the European Union (EU) created and enforced it, businesses located anywhere in the world that target or gather data on people residing within its borders must abide by it. The law was officially adopted on May 25, 2018. People or entities who break the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) privacy and security standards may face harsh penalties.

Europe is making a bold assertion about its dedication to data privacy and security by enacting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) at a time when more and more individuals are entrusting cloud services with their personal information, and breaches are occurring daily. Small and medium-sized organizations especially find the prospect of complying with the GDPR daunting due to the law’s complexity, breadth, and informational gaps.

Google Analytics And GDPR

Before we go into the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it’s important to note that Google Analytics’ Terms of Service long ago forbade the uploading of any personally identifiable information (PII).

Google has released a suite of resources to assist businesses in meeting the requirements of the GDPR. Remember that you don’t need your visitors’ explicit consent to collect data from them if you use Google Analytics.

In the context of your website’s usage of Google Analytics, Google is referred to as the “data processor,” while your business is seen as the “data controller.” A data processor is an organization that handles data on another company’s behalf under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) places additional responsibility on data controllers to ensure compliance by requiring them to conduct data protection assessments and keep relevant documents.

Why Is It Important To Track Your Website Visits?

Businesses can get a more detailed understanding of their target demographic, the performance of their long tail SEO strategy and Google Ads campaigns, and more by analyzing website traffic and user engagement.

They could even be able to collect company names and contact details, which would be a huge boon for sales teams, based on the modality used. Salespeople may get tremendous benefits by preparing ahead of time rather than depending on cold calling.

Ensure GDPR Compliant Website Tracking

To acquire and keep personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you must have a valid basis or an explanation that is legally allowed. The idea of consent is an example of a legal precedent.

One way to put this into effect is to create a “Tracking Consent” notice for your website that outlines the information being collected and how it will be used with the permission that you have sought.

The information in this notice must be written in unambiguous and straightforward language, inform the contact of their right to withdraw permission at any time, and include a button or checkbox that they must click to affirmatively provide their consent.

It is important to remember that, in addition to designing an effective procedure for collecting permission (if you are processing based on consent), you will also be expected to comply with additional General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.

One of these criteria is that your contacts have access to a GDPR-compliant privacy notice that defines very explicit data processing methods and corresponds with the GDPR’s standards, including the notice obligations in Articles 13 and 14.

Key Notes

If you have users in the European Union (EU), you must be familiar with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its consent standards, as well as other data protection obligations. This is true regardless of where you and your website are on the planet.

Consent is a legal basis for obtaining user data under the GDPR. Website trackers that gather and manage personal data from users must have the explicit permission of the end-users before they can be activated and used to monitor website activity.

Permission to use cookies must be freely supplied (that is, it cannot be imposed or used as a requirement for getting services) and granular (that is, users must be allowed to consent to specific website trackers but not others) under the GDPR.

Before users can offer informed and compliant consent, they must first be made aware of all the information concerning your online tracking technologies. This information cannot be provided to them after they have given their permission, nor can it be hidden inside a sophisticated legal tool.

When a user grants permission for your website to monitor their online behavior, you must record this permission and keep it in a secure area.

It is also important to renew consent every six to twelve months in line with the appropriate national data protection legislation.

The European Union (EU) is currently updating e-privacy legislation that controls the confidentiality of communications. When it becomes law, this legislative instrument will amend the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to include specific measures.