INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY: DATA ANALYTICS
A shift in EU data strategy: How the‘ Digital Omnibus’ could benefit business analytics and European vendors
According to Piwik PRO, a European leader in privacy-focused analytics solutions, several elements of the EU’ s proposed Digital Omnibus regulation could accelerate the shift toward privacy-friendly analytics and reduce reliance on US vendors. This could shift the balance of power in the European digital analytics market which is expected to triple in value to US $ 4.68 billion by 2031.
Digital Omnibus has triggered a significant public debate. While digital rights organizations have criticized some parts of the proposal especially the AIrelated sections, other elements lay the groundwork for introducing a simpler legal pathway for privacy-friendly website analytics.
“ Digital analytics is crucial for running improving and growing businesses by helping understand what is happening on their websites. Simplifying procedures for monitoring website traffic will enable companies to collect and analyze user data more effectively while remaining compliant” said Mateusz Krempa CCXO at Piwik PRO and Cookie Information.
This shift would be possible as a result of the proposal to include Article 88a of the Digital Omnibus in the GDPR. It clarifies when organizations can collect and process analytics data under legitimate interest without a cookie banner or prior consent. This option is available only when strict technical and legal conditions are met. First, the analytics must be processed in a first-party setup meaning the website owner controls all analytics data.
Users must have an easy opt-out and be able to opt out of analytics at any time.
Consent would no longer be required when organizations proceed with first-party analytics under legitimate interest for basic web statistics for website optimization and for aggregate reporting provided this is done without individual user tracking for marketing purposes.
“ This approach enables organizations to perform essential audience measurement and statistical analysis of marketing effectiveness while making it easier for users to use the websites by eliminating the need to click the cookie banner each time” said Krempa.
The idea of allowing basic first-party analytics without consent is not entirely new. To date four European data protection authorities have opted for limited exemptions for first-party / audience-measurement analytics including CNIL France AEPD Spain AP the Netherlands and Garante Italy. The Digital Omnibus effectively translates this approach into an EU-wide framework.
Under Article 88a analytics providers must operate solely
on behalf of the controller. European first-party analytics vendors can typically meet these requirements. However, they are generally not met by large advertising-driven platforms such as Google Analytics due to their shared global infrastructure their reuse of aggregated customer data for product development and their tight integration with advertising ecosystems.
This does not mean that big tech solutions will be excluded. However, the distinction will be the ability to analyze data in accordance with Article 88a; otherwise, the consent mechanism will continue to apply.
“ In my opinion, this will give privacy-friendly European analytics providers an edge compared to US-based platforms. There is still a long way to go but this draft signals real change in how websites may analyze their online presence in the future” said Krempa.
If Article 88a is retained companies could soon implement basic analytics without a cookie banner. To do this they must use tools that guarantee that all processing fully complies with the GDPR and maintains the user-guaranteed privacy protections.
European vendors capable of meeting these requirements may see increased demand as organizations seek privacy-first controller-only solutions aligned with the upcoming regulatory environment. p
30 INTELLIGENTCIO EUROPE www. intelligentcio. com