What’s scarier than getting an IRS letter? Getting a letter from Google…AHHHH, what are they saying? I don’t understand.

The last few weeks, The Google Analytics Suite Team has been emailing letters to their users letting them know that on May 25th, 2018, the new data protection law goes into force.

“We would like to ensure you are aware of updated data processing terms and a new contact collection mechanism for your Google Analytics Suite Products (Standard and 360 versions). If you service users in the EEA (or are based in Switzerland, where our updated terms are also relevant), or are otherwise subject to the GDPR, please review and accept these terms and provide related contact information. If you do not service users in the EEA or are not based in Switzerland, you may disregard the rest of this email.” *

You’re probably thinking, “What does this mean?” “Am I in trouble?” “Am I affected?” “What am I supposed to do?” “EEA? GDPR?” HELP!!!!

Don’t worry, Top Line Media Team is here to help. Just like the last Google announcement about HTTPS, we’ll explain what Google is talking about and what you need to do.

Let’s break it down and see what this letter is telling us.

The first part of the letter, “it affects European and non-European businesses using online advertising and measurement solutions when their sites and apps are accessed by users in the European Economic Area (EEA).:

The EU countries are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The European Economic Area (EEA)

The EEA includes EU countries(stated above) and also Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. It allows them to be part of the EU’s single market.

Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market – this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.**

 

What you need to know:

If you serve any users from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland

Or are based in Switzerland

And use Google Analytics Suite Products (Standard and 360 versions)

Then this will affect you.

You will have to change how you get your “new contact collection” i.e. personal information.

The GDPR want’s to make sure companies are collecting and storing personal information that will protect these individuals. They also want to make sure these individuals signed up knowingly with your company. (more on this soon)

P.S. GDPR is short for General Data Protection Regulation, and it’s the name of a law in the European Union (EU) that sets out to protect the rights of individuals in respect of their data.***

 

Personal information can include but is not limited to:
    Email addresses
    Names
    Addresses
    Phone Numbers
    Social Media Posts
    Banking Info
    Photos
    Computer IP Addresses
    Medical Information

Did I just hear you say “Oh…that’s it? Why didn’t they say so?” Yes, that’s it in a nutshell.

So, if you answered yes to the above or just want to educate yourself (Does anyone else have the feeling Google will implement this to the States?), please keep reading to see what steps you need to take. If you answered no, skip to our other blog post about image sizes for Facebook and Instagram here or our post about email marketing here.

Steps to comply with new data protection law for Google Analytics Suite

Step 1:

You need to review and accept the updated data processing terms in each account for each product you manage in the Google Analytics Suite:

Google Analytics / Analytics 360:

Admin > Account > Account Settings (scroll to bottom of page)
 

Google Optimize / Optimize 360:

Edit Account Details > (scroll to bottom of page)
 

Google Tag Manager / Tag Manager 360:

Account Settings > (scroll to bottom of page)
 

Google Attribution / Attribution 360:

Admin > Account Settings > (scroll to bottom of page)
 

Google Data Studio:

User Settings > Account and Privacy (acceptance managed on a user basis)
 

Step 2:

You need to provide your legal entity and contact details for notifications so Google can send if needed under the GDPR.
 

For Analytics, Optimize, Tag Manager and Attribution, you can provide the contact details within Suite Home

Go to “Organization Settings” >“Data Processing Amendment – Details. Learn more.
 

For Data Studio

The contact collection mechanism exists in Data Studio only (not in Suite Home) and is available at User Settings > Account and Privacy. Learn more.


These are just the steps in setting up your Google Analytics Suite Products (Standard and 360 versions). Once you have updated your Google Analytics Suite Products, you will need to update your Email Marketing.

Why you ask? Because Email Marking is the primary way businesses communicate with customers and ask for personal information. If you do not make the changes here, you are not compliant with the GDPR. Read “How to Make Sure Your Email Marketing is GDPR Compliant” here (article coming soon).

If you want to learn more about Google’s data privacy policies and approach, here is their link.

If you need help with setting up your Google Analytics Suite, please reach out to us. We would love to help.


* Google letter
** https://www.gov.uk/eu-eea
*** https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2017/07/07/what-is-gdpr/