What is privacy-preserving analytics?

Privacy-preserving analytics is an approach to measuring website or app activity while limiting the amount of information collected about individuals and reducing the risk of identifying them. For example, a website might measure overall page usage without building detailed profiles of individual visitors.

Depending on how it is implemented, privacy-preserving analytics may involve:

• Collecting only the information needed for a specific measurement.

• Limiting how long individual-level data is retained and who can access it.

• Using aggregated statistics instead of reports that identify individual visitors.

• Applying privacy-enhancing technologies, such as differential privacy, to reduce what analytical results reveal about individuals.

Privacy-preserving analytics is not a legal status or certification. A tool may still process personal data or access information on a user’s device before producing an aggregate result.

Some jurisdictions provide limited exemptions from consent requirements for certain audience-measurement activities. CNIL’s guidance on audience measurement tools sets out conditions under which certain audience-measurement technologies may be exempt from consent in France, including restrictions on their purpose and use. The ICO’s guidance on storage and access technologies describes a separate UK exception for certain statistical purposes, subject to specific conditions.

Whether an exemption applies depends on the tool’s actual configuration, how the data is collected and the requirements of the relevant jurisdiction. Calling a tool “privacy-preserving” does not by itself mean that consent is unnecessary.