You may have observed that when you visit any Website to view some products, the next Site you fire up in your browser suddenly bombards you with adverts for similar items. Allocating cookies to browsers of Web visitors is a common, & often invasive practice initiated to store data about their surfing habits. Though cookies are needed to add functionality to a Website, on the flip side, they may be also be used to unethically collect user data.
‘Simple Analytics’ built by Adriaan van Rossum claims to have a different approach. The platform has been developed keeping user privacy in mind & promises to provide informative data to Website owners without ever tracking users once they’ve left the Site.
Most Web analytics tools use Cookies to collect data about Site visitors. This data is then used to provide insights for Website owners with the aim of giving them information which might assist in improving their Site or in discovering high or low traffic periods & so on. However, some may add a tracking mechanism to the browser of users visiting the Site they are analyzing.
As a platform, Simple Analytics, claims that it offers Website analytics that are simple in integration, have clean interface & never infringe upon users’ privacy. The Website states that this data is sufficient for clients to gain valuable insights & metrics. The makers maintain that collecting data is enough & there’s no need for them to stalk visitors all over the Web.
So, as a Site owner, if you value & respect your user’s privacy, here’s an analytics tool whose primary aim is to do the job ethically.
What Data Do They Collect
- Timestamps: Date & time of visit
- User Agent: Browser type
- Referrers: Only store URL stem, https://example.com/page.php, & nothing more
- URLs: as stated above
- Device dimensions
- Do Not Track settings: Whether or not the visitor has specifically set this parameter in browser
To set up Simple Analytics on any Website, one needs to simply add 2 lines of JavaScript to the base of the ‘body tag’ on a Web page. The platform offers a 7-day free trial for potential clients to understand how their system performs.
– This is a startup profile based on publicly available material & not a review –
Image Credit: Simple Analytics
Don’t leave without reading this…
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