Privacy guide
The 2025 privacy-friendly analytics checklist
Browser changes, AI regulations, and privacy-first buyers mean the old “install a tracking pixel and call it a day” playbook no longer works. Use this checklist to keep stakeholder confidence high while still giving your product and growth teams the signals they need.
Decide where data lives
- Pick a primary region (EU vs US) and document it in your privacy policy.
- Ensure your analytics vendor supports data residency and encryption at rest.
- Create a retention policy: 30, 90, or 365 days depending on your legal advice.
Collect only what you need
- Strip PII from events before they leave the browser—use hashes or anonymized IDs.
- Avoid device fingerprinting or cross-site identifiers unless you have explicit consent.
- Log exactly which events are tracked so you can answer audits quickly.
Handle user rights requests
- Create a simple process to export a user’s data within 30 days.
- Support deletion API calls so support teams aren’t chasing engineers.
- Keep a changelog of policy updates and data flows for compliance reviews.
Consent strategy in plain English
If you don’t collect personal data or use cookies for tracking, you can often operate without intrusive banners. Document the exact fields you capture (e.g., anonymous session ID, page path, anonymized attributes) and share that with legal or enterprise buyers. Transparency builds trust.
Tools we rely on
- AnalyzeUser for event capture & retention controls
- Postmark or Resend for DSAR confirmations
- Simple spreadsheet + calendar reminders for annual policy reviews
FAQs
Do I still need a cookie banner with privacy-friendly analytics?
If you avoid personal data, device fingerprints, and marketing cookies, many regions allow you to run analytics without intrusive banners. Document exactly what you track and share it with legal or enterprise buyers.
How should we respond to DSAR or deletion requests?
Maintain a lightweight runbook: export data within 30 days, support API-driven deletion, and log every response. Tools like AnalyzeUser include DSAR exports so support teams can fulfill requests without engineering help.
Where should analytics data be stored?
Pick a primary region (EU or US), ensure your vendor offers residency in that region, and define a retention policy (30/90/365 days). State these choices publicly so auditors aren’t guessing.
Want this built-in?
AnalyzeUser bakes privacy defaults into every project: no cookies, configurable retention, automatic DSAR tooling, and data residency options for EU or US customers.