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Comment by nopal | Hacker News Reader

From a site owner's perspective, I don't like this.

It's always been possible for a site owner to track certain things via access logs, I think Google should still allow for those basic metrics to be tracked via Google Analytics.

While it's still possible to track site usage via logs, I don't think Google should give end users a way to bypass the wishes of a site owner. If someone is using my site, I believe I have the right to have access to certain usage information. (Insert bit about doing it ethically)

In the past, Google Analytics has been good enough, and I've not felt the need to analyze my server logs. Now I question how popular this plug-in will become, and how it might skew even the most basic and fundamental usage stats.

By providing an all-or-nothing plug-in, Google is hurting those using Google Analytics more than it's helping to ensure people's privacy.

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Google Analytics and any JavaScript based analytics can only ever be regarded as indicative.

If you think it measures your whole audience you're wrong. People might not finish load the page for example. Or they've ad-blocked the ga.js. Or they are using NoScript. Or they're using an accessibility layer.

It may be the majority of your audience, but I'm fairly sure that even with this add-on/extension that GA will still remain a good indicator of your audience size and your audience habits. That hasn't changed.

>Or they've ad-blocked the ga.js.

That's what I've been doing. I've simply been using AdBlock Plus to prevent anything from Google Analytics from loading. I found that Google Analytics would often take the longest of any element to load, causing my browser's progress bar to spin indefinitely instead of finishing the page. Blocking Analytics entirely got around this annoyance.

In any case, it's nice of Google to provide this to the privacy-conscious.

Are you sure you weren't experiencing this bug? https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=487638

I definitely don't think it measures my whole audience. I've just been comfortable with what I perceive as the size of the audience that I'm not measuring.

I think the release of an easy-to-use, official plug-in at a time when people are up in arms over privacy could lead to less accurate statistics.

It's too early to tell whether this plug-in will have a large effect of not. If it is talked about in the right places, it definitely could.

Client-side javascript-based analytics never were, and never will be foolproof.

don't think Google should give end users a way to bypass the wishes of a site owner

You don't think users should have control over their own property?

If someone is using my site, I believe I have the right to have access to certain usage information.

You have the right to ask for that information. You have no right to compel the user to answer.

You don't think users should have control over their own property?

Oh, come on there is a limit. I mean; the only reason this is big news is because Google supplies a lot of sites with analytics. If a site uses another service then this opt out is useless (in terms of them not being tracked). Additionally they are providing all this data to the site directly - Google is just the aggregator some webmasters choose.

This is, in fact, about people preferring Google not having their information. Which is a fair enough point (if I visit XYZ.com I don't implicitly agree to provide my data to Google).

I think there is a fair gentlemans agreement in place; whereby website owners have a "reasonable expectation" to be able to see what kind of users are accessing a site. If we start calling that personal information I suspect it will start to turn into a Mexican stand off of users hiding data and webmasters trying to sneak it out of them :)

A friend of mine pointed out a useful metaphor: it is like a customer dressing in baggy clothing, using a ski mask and voice modulator and then sneaking into a shop to buy something with gold pieces - because they don't want to provide demographics to the shop owner. Sure it is their right; but it also doesn't benefit anyone :)

You have the right to ask for that information. You have no right to compel the user to answer.

The user has no right to view the site owner's content. The site owner therefore has the right to make provision of analytics data a prerequisite for access to content. No one's bothered to do so because the proportion of people who opt-out is currently quite small.

The site owner therefore has the right to make provision of analytics data a prerequisite for access to content.

Agreed. I just object to the imputation that it's wrong to provide users with the ability to not provide that data if they so choose.

Entitled much? You're using a free service and have the gall to make demands on how it is to be implemented?

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