Google Analytics Runs Into German Storm

Google Analytics, the free product that allows website owners to gain aggregated statistics about their visitors, is facing a potential ban in Germany after several federal and regional government officials objected to it over data protection concerns.

The news emerged in an article in Zeit Online as well as TechCrunch Europe, which stated that the government officials are convinced that Google Analytics is against the law in Germany. They are apparently considering imposing fines on companies who use the software to gather detailed stats based on their website visitors’ usage patterns, without the explicit consent of those visitors.

According to the Zeit Online article (a poor translation is here), approximately 13 percent of German websites currently use Google Analytics. This apparently includes a number of websites from leading media and pharmaceutical organisations, as well as mainstream political parties.

It is reported that German privacy protection officials have already criticised Google over the level of information it collects. They have also apparently declared their concerns over the amount of personally identifiable data Google sends to servers located on US soil.

But officials are claiming that under German law, such data is prohibited from leaving the country. However, Google believes it is within their rights to do so, as it complies with the Safe Harbour treaty established between the European Union and the United States – and in any case the statistics are not personal data.

According to Zeit Online, one German lawyer believes penalties could amount to around 50,000 euros (£45,000) for each website that operated the service.

That said, it is unclear at this time over what precisely the German authorities are concerned about, as the only data stored in Google Analytics is aggregated statistics.

Google has previously experienced problems in Germany over its Streetview service, and the search engine giant is also reportedly facing having content from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp pulled or delisted from Google search in exchange for payment by Microsoft.