Privacy policy
We collect as little as we can. This page says exactly what, why, on what legal basis, who receives it, and what you can do about it.
Last updated on
Who is responsible
This website is run by SwissOps Sàrl, Sur-la-Croix 147, 1020 Renens, Switzerland, which decides how the data described here is used. You can reach us at info@analytics-alternative.com about anything on this page, including your rights.
We apply the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, for visitors in the European Union and the European Economic Area, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In short
- There are no accounts, no forms, no comments and no advertising on this site, and we never sell or rent any data.
- The site itself sets no cookie on your device, except one that remembers your choice in the cookie banner.
- Without your consent, we measure visits without cookies and without storing anything on your device.
- With your consent, WireBoard and Google Analytics set analytics cookies. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
What we collect, why, and on what legal basis
When you visit a page. Our web server records technical data with each request: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the page you came from, and your browser's description of itself. We use it only to deliver the site, keep it secure and find errors. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in running a secure website (GDPR article 6(1)(f)). Server logs are deleted after 14 days at most.
Measuring visits without cookies. We measure how the site is used with WireBoard, a web analytics tool made by SwissOps. Until you accept analytics cookies, and if you decline them, WireBoard runs in its cookieless mode: no cookies, no local storage and no identifier on your device. It receives the page you view, the page you came from, your browser, your device type and screen size, and your IP address. WireBoard masks the last part of your IP address as soon as it receives it, uses it only to work out your country, region and city, and then discards it; it never stores IP addresses for analytics. It cannot recognise you from one page to the next: every page load counts as a new visitor, so we only see totals. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in knowing which pages are read and where visitors come from (GDPR article 6(1)(f)). You can object to it at any time (see "Your rights").
Measuring visits with your consent. If you accept analytics cookies in the banner:
- WireBoard switches to its full mode and sets two cookies on this site's domain, to recognise a returning visitor and to group your page views into a visit. It also keeps events waiting to be sent in your browser's local storage, and keeps the two identifiers there too if your browser blocks the cookies.
- Google Analytics 4 is loaded from googletagmanager.com. It sets its own cookies and sends usage data to Google. Without your consent, Google Analytics is not loaded at all.
Legal basis: your consent (GDPR article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page, which also deletes the WireBoard and Google Analytics cookies and what WireBoard kept in your browser's local storage.
Your choice in the cookie banner. The banner stores your choice in a cookie, so it does not ask again on every page. Legal basis: our obligation to respect and record your choice (GDPR article 6(1)(c)).
Videos. Our WireBoard review shows videos from YouTube. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you press play. From then on, the player comes from youtube-nocookie.com, and Google receives your IP address and browser details and may store data on your device under its own policy. Legal basis: your consent, given by pressing play.
When you email us. We use your address and your message only to answer you. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in answering you (GDPR article 6(1)(f)), or the steps you ask for before an agreement (article 6(1)(b)).
We make no automated decisions about you and build no profiles for marketing.
Cookies and storage
| Name | Set by | What it does | How long | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cc_cookie |
This site | Remembers your choice in the cookie banner | 365 days | When you make a choice |
_wb_id. followed by an ID |
WireBoard, on this site's domain | Recognises a returning visitor | 2 years | Only with your consent |
_wb_ses. followed by an ID |
WireBoard, on this site's domain | Groups your page views into one visit | 30 minutes | Only with your consent |
| Local storage | WireBoard | Holds events waiting to be sent, and the two identifiers if cookies are blocked | Until you withdraw consent or clear it | Only with your consent |
_ga |
Google Analytics | Tells visitors apart | 2 years | Only with your consent |
_ga_ followed by an ID |
Google Analytics | Keeps the state of a visit | 2 years | Only with your consent |
Who receives data
- Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany, hosts this website on a server in Ashburn, Virginia, in the United States, run by its subsidiary Hetzner US LLC, and processes the server logs on our behalf.
- WireBoard is made and run by SwissOps, the same company as this website. Its analytics data is processed on servers of Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany and Finland. Its tracking script is delivered by bunny.net (BunnyWay d.o.o., Slovenia), whose network sets no cookies.
- Google (Google Ireland Limited, and Google LLC in the United States) receives Google Analytics data only if you accept analytics cookies, and YouTube data only if you play a video. See Google's privacy policy.
Nobody else receives data from this site.
Data outside Switzerland and the EU
This website's server is in the United States. When you open a page, your browser sends its request, with your IP address, to that server, and the server logs described above are kept there. The United States is not recognised as offering an adequate level of data protection in general, and our hosting provider does not rely on the Data Privacy Framework for this server. The transfer is needed to deliver the pages you ask for, and we keep it to the minimum: the logs are used only to deliver and secure the site, and are deleted after 14 days at most.
WireBoard's analytics data stays in the European Union, and we handle data in Switzerland; Switzerland and the European Union recognise each other's level of protection.
Google may process data in the United States. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework, which the European Commission and the Swiss Federal Council recognise as providing adequate protection.
How long we keep data
- Server logs: 14 days at most.
- WireBoard: the measurements of visits, which contain no IP address, are kept for up to 3 years so we can compare periods. The cookies expire as shown in the table above.
- Google Analytics: event data for up to 14 months, the longest Google allows for standard properties.
- Emails: as long as the conversation needs, and no longer than 2 years after our last exchange.
- Your choice in the cookie banner: 365 days.
Your rights
Under the FADP and the GDPR, you can ask us at any time:
- what data we hold about you, and for a copy of it;
- to correct it if it is wrong;
- to delete it;
- to restrict how we use it;
- to receive the data you gave us in a common format, or have it sent to someone else;
- to stop using it where we rely on our legitimate interest, including the cookieless measurement of visits;
- and you can withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting what was done before.
Write to info@analytics-alternative.com. We answer within 30 days, and may ask you to confirm who you are. Cookieless measurements hold no identifier, so we usually cannot link them to you; if so, we tell you.
You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority: in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); in the European Union and the European Economic Area, the authority of the country where you live or work, or where you think the problem arose.
Security
The site is served only over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). Access to the servers and to the analytics data is limited to the people who need it to run the site.
Changes to this policy
When we change how we handle data, we update this page and the date at the top.