Google Data

Posted by Will DeVries, Policy Counsel

We created Google Analytics to help website owners aggregate and analyze their traffic so they can improve and update their sites. Like traffic pattern reports tell you about traffic on a highway or street, Google Analytics provides general trends for a website (numbers of visitors, average time spent on one page) without revealing any personally identifiable information.

Even though Google Analytics doesn’t reveal personal information, we believe in giving users more choice and control whenever possible. So today we’re excited to launch the beta version of our new opt-out for Google Analytics. Now, you can download and install an add-on for your desktop browser that will stop data from being sent from your computer when you visit websites that use Google Analytics Javascript to track usage. This means the information from your visit will not be sent to Google Analytics or included in its reports.

We hope this option will give users even more choices when online. For more information on user choices when using Google Analytics, check out this overview. And for information on other Google efforts to provide you with choice and control, check out the Google Privacy Center.