Are you thinking if Google Analytics is compliant with the new California Consumer Privacy Act?

Google Analytics is the most popular analytical tool that’s used by millions of webmasters to track their site performance. It helps you understand your user’s behavior and track your site’s performance.

But the way Google Analytics works and collects personal data about your visitors can get you into huge trouble if you don’t meet CCPA compliance.

In this article, I’ll show you how to make sure your Google Analytics complies with CCPA. 

Let’s dive right in.

Disclaimer: Due to the ever-changing nature of websites, no single plugin can offer 100% legal compliance. Please consult a lawyer to determine if you comply with all applicable laws for your jurisdictions and your use cases. Nothing on my website should be considered legal advice.

This post contains affiliate links (I don’t recommend anything that I don’t believe in), meaning at no extra cost to you, I might receive a small commission for purchases made through these links.

What is CCPA?

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a widespread data protection law in the United States that regulates how businesses all over the world are allowed to handle the personal information of California residents. The law went into effect on January 1, 2020, and it’s enforceable from July 1, 2020.

Some of the rights that residents of California have under CCPA include:

  • Right to be Informed – Users should know how your website collects, sells, discloses, and shares their data.
  • Right to have Data Deleted – Citizens have the right to get their data erased from your website.
  • Right to See What Data – This includes the data collected about a user in the past 12 months.
  • Right to Equal Services and Price – Websites aren’t allowed to discriminate against consumers that exercise this right and should be given the same price and service as other consumers.
  • Right to Opt-Out – People can opt-out from websites selling, renting, or releasing their personal information to third parties

Who Needs to be CCPA Compliant?

If your business meets the following conditions, then you’ll have to comply with the CCPA compliant law:

  • Your annual gross revenue is $25 million or higher.
  • If your 50% or more of your annual revenue is from selling consumer’s personal information.
  • You buy, receive, or sell personal information of at least 50.000 California residents.

What happens if you don’t comply with CCPA?

If you fail to comply with CCPA, it can put you at risk of huge fines. Well, if you’re found to be intentionally violating the law, then you could face penalties up to $7,500 per violation per individual.

Is Google Analytics CCPA Compliant?

Well, now you know what is CCPA and whether it applies to your business or not, the next burning question you might have is: what does CCPA have to do with Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that helps you understand how people interact with your website.

But it works by assigning your website visitors an UserID and records personal data like IP addresses, gender, age, device, and more.

This means that it falls under CCPA’s explanation of the consumer’s personal information.

So, should your business disable Google Analytics for CCPA?

Nope!

Without Google Analytics, you won’t have any analytical data to make decisions and you’ll be just guessing about what works on your website.

The best part is,

You can easily make a few changes to make sure your Google Analytics complies with CCPA.

Here’s how you can do it:

How to Make Google Analytics CCPA Compliant?

You can follow these 3 steps to make sure that Google Analytics complies with CCPA requirements.

Step 1: Install MonsterInsights and its EU Compliance Addon

MonsterInsights is a beginner-friendly and one of the best WordPress plugins for Google Analytics. You can easily fulfill the needs of the new CCPA law by installing the plugin and its EU Compliance addon.

The EU Compliance addon allows you to automate different processes to meet CCPA. You can easily disable personal data tracking in Google Analytics using the EU Compliance addon.

Monsterinsights

Here’s what you can do with the addon:

  • Anonymize user’s IP address Google Analytics hits
  • Disable demographics and interest reports for advertising (Google Ads) and remarketing tracking in Google Analytics
  • Automatically disable author tracking Google Analytics and custom dimensions addon
  • Disable UserID tracking on Google Analytics
  • Enable ga() compatibility mode
  • Allow AMP addon users to agree with the Google AMP consent box before tracking their data
  • Easy integration with CookieBot and Cookie Notice WordPress plugins

To access the addon, go to Insights » Addons » EU Compliance. Then install and activate the addon.

EU Compliance addon

Once the addon is activated, go to Insights » Settings » Engagement and scroll down to EU Compliance.

Here you can play the settings and disable different tracking features in Google Analytics to comply with CCPA.

EU Compliance addon settings

Step 2: Create an Opt-Out Consent Box

After setting up MonsterInsights and its EU Compliance addon, the next thing you’ll need to do is create an opt-out consent box.

That’s because one of the rights in CCPA says that people can opt-out from websites sharing their data with third parties.

The simplest way of creating an opt-out consent box is by using free WordPress plugins like CookieBot or Cookie Notice.

Both these plugins offer an option to set up an opt-out consent box that easily integrates with MonsterInsights as well.

Step 3: Update Your Privacy Policy

This is highly important because, under CCPA, California citizens have the right to be informed about how your website collects, sells, discloses, and shares their data.

You can inform your visitors that you use Google Analytics to track your site’s performance. Then describe what personal information Google Analytics collects about your visitors.

You’ll also have to explain the purpose of the data you collect, how you use it, and if it’s shared with any third party.

Your updated privacy policy should also include details about the different cookies you use to track your reader’s information.

Lastly, you can disclose the process that users can take if they want to see their data and how their data can be deleted from your website.

Final Thoughts: How to Make Sure Your Google Analytics Complies with CCPA

If you use Google Analytics and meet the requirements for CCPA, then with the MonsterInsights Google Analytics plugin, you can easily comply with the new CCPA law. Just use its EU Compliance addon and disable tracking with a few clicks of a button.

Now It’s Your Turn

Hey, I hope you found my article on how to make sure your Google Analytics complies with CCPA useful.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

What do you think about the CCPA compliance?

Let me know in the comment section below right now.

Also, share this post with your friends, bloggers, and business owners who want to learn more about CCPA compliance.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I’m always available to help young hustlers like you.

Keep hustling!