Six Lines

Opt-out for Google Analytics

Posted by Aaron Massey on 29 May 2010.

Google has announced a beta version (classic Google procedure) of their Google Analytics Opt-out plugin for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome:

Even though Google Analytics doesn’t reveal personal information, we believe in giving users more choice and control whenever possible. So today we’re excited to launch the beta version of our new opt-out for Google Analytics. Now, you can download and install an add-on for your desktop browser that will stop data from being sent from your computer when you visit websites that use Google Analytics Javascript to track usage.

Give credit where credit is due: this is a privacy win. There are a lot of people who would disagree with Google’s notion that Google Analytics doesn’t reveal personal information, and now those folks have an option to avoid it other than tools like NoScript.

Also, check out their post on the analytics blog if you want more information. They are providing tools to allow websites that use Google Analytics to further protect privacy.