From 5.5 onward you can enable Google Consent Mode. Also available for DSGVO guidelines.
In the wizard, you can now choose Germany and/or Austria as a subregion for EEA, which enables integration with DSGVO and Telemediengesetz. If you configured Google Analytics privacy-friendly, you would get below notice to actively enable prior consent for privacy-friendly statistics required in most cases for DSGVO/Telemediengesetz.
The notice:
You have configured your statistics tracking privacy-friendly with Google Analytics. Therefore, in most EU countries, asking for consent for placing these particular cookies is generally not required. For some countries, like Germany, asking consent for Google Analytics is always needed.
Consent for statistics always required?
When you configure Google Analytics in a privacy-friendly manner, you will anonymize data, prohibit Google from using this data, and sign a processing agreement. In several EU countries, you don’t need consent to set Google Analytics for tracking visitor behavior when configured correctly.
This point of view is supported by several local implementations of the current cookie law (the ePrivacy Directive). It is also mentioned in the recent draft of the new e-Privacy Regulation, and the latest guidelines of CNIL, the French Data Protection Authority.
Some countries, however, are taking a different route. In Germany, the Data Protection Authorities have issued a statement stating that using third-party services like Google Analytics for statistics always requires consent, even when tracking is set-up privacy-friendly. That’s why we have created the possibility in our plugin to ask consent for statistics regardless. Alternatively, you can use Matomo for statistics, which does not have this limitation.
Difference between answering Yes or No
- Suppose you enable consent for statistics, regardless of your settings. Consent will be asked for statistics in the EEA. For categorical banners, this would add a new category called: “Statistics.” Your privacy settings for Google Analytics remain the same.
- If you keep your current settings and answer no, Google Analytics will keep the privacy-friendly settings and anonymize IP Addresses before consent.
- If you decide on Yes, but need more options for Google Analytics. We suggest disregarding the privacy-friendly settings.
