Google Analytics: what was changed on the platform by the General Data Protection Regulation
The new General Data Protection Regulation comes into force on 25 May. All companies or entities that deal with personal data will have to take new measures in order to protect citizens' information.
From this date, any consumer will be able to require a company to no longer have access to their personal data and will have the right to have their data transferred to the new service providers. Companies that create technology products should ensure the privacy of user data.
Google, technology giant, is no exception. Recently it was announced that Google Analytics has undergone changes due to the new Regulation established by the European Union. Learn how access to user data will change in this article.
In an email sent to Google Analytics users, the technology giant announced changes to the level of:
Products
The big change in Analytics products is granular data retention controls, which allows you to manage how long user data is stored on Google servers before they are automatically deleted.
By implementing these controls, you can set retention periods at the user and event level, and take effect on May 25, when the new Data Protection Regulation comes into operation. The retention period applies to data associated with cookies, user IDs, and so on.
Google Analytics customers need to review their retention settings to prevent accidental loss of data. The second change to Google Analytics announced is the user exclusion tool, which follows the new GDPR-enforced right that allows users to request the deletion of their data from a database.
The tool will allow you to exclude all data associated with any individual Analytics and/or Analytics 360 end user. The tool will be available before May 25th.
Some contractual changes were also made, with Google defining itself as a "data processor". The updated terms should already be available in your account under Account Settings. Finally, there are some changes to user consent policies.
The new changes define the responsibility to inform and obtain valid user consent. Google requires Google Analytics customers to accept the updated terms.
All of these changes aim to protect users and their data, giving more confidence and transparency to the process of sharing information to large and small organizations.
