Matomo's privacy policy is designed to meet the highest standards of data protection, ensuring that your website visitors' personal data is kept safe and secure. This is essential for maintaining trust and compliance with WordPress regulations.
To achieve this, Matomo uses a cookie-based tracking system that collects anonymous data, such as page views and clicks. This data is stored on your website and can be accessed through the Matomo dashboard.
Matomo also provides a feature called "Do Not Track" which allows visitors to opt-out of tracking. This is a key aspect of the privacy policy, as it respects users' right to control their data.
What We Do
At Matomo, we're committed to giving you complete control over your data. We don't collect any personal data, and our servers don't store any data that could be used to identify individual visitors.
Our plugin for WordPress is designed to be easy to use, with a simple installation process that gets you up and running in no time. This plugin allows you to track your website's analytics without compromising your visitors' privacy.
We only collect data that's necessary to provide you with accurate analytics, and we don't store any data that could be used to identify individual visitors. This includes IP addresses, which are immediately anonymized upon collection.
Our plugin also allows you to control what data is collected and how it's used, giving you complete transparency and control over your analytics. You can choose to collect data on individual pages, or only on aggregate data.
We don't use any third-party services to collect or store your data, keeping everything in-house and under your control. This means you can trust that your data is safe and secure.
Compliant with Major Data Privacy Regulations
Matomo adheres to GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, LGPD, and PECR, making it a reliable choice for businesses that prioritize data privacy.
Matomo can be configured to automatically anonymize data, ensuring that no personal information is processed.
To maintain legal certainty, it's essential to observe certain principles when using open source software like Matomo.
Data Protection Authorities across the EU have ruled Google Analytics illegal to use under the GDPR, highlighting the importance of finding a compliant alternative.
You can configure Matomo to automatically anonymize data, which helps to minimize the risk of fines and ensures compliance with major data privacy regulations.
The Austrian Data Protection Authority and the CNIL have both issued rulings against Google Analytics, making Matomo a safer choice for businesses that need to comply with GDPR.
By configuring Matomo to automatically anonymize data, you can ensure that you're not processing any PII (Personally Identifiable Information), which is a key requirement for GDPR compliance.
User Consent and Data
User consent is a crucial aspect of Matomo's privacy policy. Matomo itself provides an opt-out function, but it's recommended to rely on the opt-in principle, obtaining active consent from website visitors before setting non-essential cookies and transferring personal data.
To obtain opt-in consent, you can use a consent management plugin like Real Cookie Banner. This plugin makes it easy to inform visitors about the use of Matomo cookies and ask for their consent.
Here are some essential steps to follow:
- Install and activate the Real Cookie Banner plugin in your WordPress backend.
- Add the Matomo service in the Cookies > Services > Add Service section.
- Configure the service by entering your Matomo host name and site ID in the Technical Handling section.
By following these steps, you can ensure that your website complies with data protection regulations and provides a positive user experience for your visitors.
Empty
Matomo's tracking cookies are considered non-essential, meaning you need consent to use them in the EU.
These cookies are used to distinguish users and link data from multiple page views, which raises concerns about user privacy.
Fortunately, Matomo provides features to help you comply with data protection regulations.
Some of these features include anonymization of data, IP anonymization, and the ability to delete visitor data if desired.
Matomo also allows users to opt out of tracking and view the data collected about them.
Here are some key features that help Matomo comply with data protection:
- Anonymization of data
- Users can opt out of any tracking
- First-party cookies as standard
- Individuals can view the data collected
- Ability to delete visitor data if desired
- Data is not used for other purposes
- IP anonymization
- Visitor log and profiles can be disabled
- Data is stored in the EU (Matomo Cloud) or in any country of your choice (Matomo On-Premise)
Opt-in Consent
Obtaining opt-in consent is crucial when using Matomo, especially if you host it in the Matomo cloud. This means you need to actively ask your website visitors for permission before setting non-essential cookies and transferring personal data.
To make things easier, you can use a consent management plugin like Real Cookie Banner. It's a straightforward process: simply install and activate the plugin, and you're good to go.
Here's a step-by-step guide to setting up Real Cookie Banner with Matomo:
- Open your WordPress backend.
- Go to Plugins > Install in the left menu.
- Search for Real Cookie Banner.
- Install and activate the plugin.
- Navigate again on the left menu to Cookies > Services (Cookies) > Add Service.
- Search for Matomo.
Once you've added Matomo as a service, you'll need to configure it. Click on the template to access the service configuration, and then scroll down to the Technical Handling section. Here, you'll need to enter your Matomo host name and Matomo site ID.
Your Matomo host name is usually in the format of matomo.example.com. Make sure to enter it correctly to ensure everything works smoothly.
In addition to setting up Real Cookie Banner, you should also switch to Matomo Tag Manager event in Cookies > Settings > General in the Load services after consent using section. This will ensure that your website is GDPR compliant.
For more information on setting up Real Cookie Banner with Matomo, you can check out the knowledge base article on our website.
How We Collect and Use Your Data
We collect and process personal data in a responsible and transparent way. We have an opt-out mechanism that lets users opt-out of web analytics tracking. This means that users have control over how their data is used.
To comply with data protection regulations, we anonymize IP addresses and implement other data anonymization techniques. This helps protect users' privacy and ensures that their data is not used for other purposes.
We collect three types of personal data: Account Data, Communication Data, and Customer Instance Usage Data. Account Data includes information such as name, email address, job title, and contact details. Communication Data includes information such as name, email address, and the content of messages sent to us. Customer Instance Usage Data includes information such as instance activity, features visited, and number of users logged in.
We use this data solely for specific purposes, such as providing the service, answering queries, and improving our products and services. We do not sell personal data to anyone.
Here's a breakdown of the personal data we collect and how we use it:
We also have measures in place to ensure that users' data is protected, such as IP anonymization, which changes or shortens the IP address so that a unique identification is no longer possible. This is activated by default in Matomo.
Cookie Handling
Cookie handling is a crucial aspect of maintaining a website's privacy policy, especially when using Matomo analytics. Matomo uses various types of cookies to record visitor activities, and obtaining consent for these cookies is essential for GDPR compliance.
To make Matomo GDPR compliant, you must observe certain legal framework conditions, which can be supported by various frameworks. The IAB Europe's TCF (Transparency and Consent Framework) is one such standard that ensures legally compliant cookie management.
A consent management solution like Consentmanager can inform visitors about the use of Matomo cookies and ask for their consent in the same step. This technical implementation of Matomo Cookie Management contributes to a positive user experience by immediately informing users about the use of Matomo cookies and asking for their consent.
The essential factors of a positive user experience are a long stay, a high acceptance rate, and a lower bounce rate. A good consent management tool contributes to ensuring a high acceptance rate and keeping the bounce rate correspondingly low.
The Consent Manager offers a real-time overview of the current acceptance rates and the length of stay, enabling conclusions to be drawn about the current performance of your website and revealing optimization potential. This is particularly important for international visitors, as the consent manager supports more than 30 languages.
To obtain opt-in consent, you should use a consent management plugin like Real Cookie Banner. This plugin allows you to create a template for Matomo cookies and configure the technical handling section to enter your Matomo host name and site ID.
Here are the steps to set up Real Cookie Banner with Matomo:
- Open your WordPress backend.
- Go to Plugins > Install in the left menu.
- Search for Real Cookie Banner.
- Install and activate the plugin.
- Navigate again on the left menu to Cookies > Services (Cookies) > Add Service.
- Search for Matomo.
- Click on the template. Now you are in the service configuration.
- Scroll down to the Technical Handling section.
- Enter your Matomo host name and Matomo site ID.
By following these steps, you can use Matomo DSGVO-compliant after the opt-in consent of your visitors.
Data Protection and Sharing
Matomo prioritizes user privacy, offering advanced privacy protections that give you more control over data collection.
Matomo has an opt-out mechanism that allows users to opt out of web analytics tracking. This means users can choose to have their data collected or not.
Data retention is also configurable, allowing you to choose how long raw data and aggregated reports are stored. Anonymizing IP addresses and implementing other data anonymization techniques help protect user identities.
The software respects the DoNotTrack setting, which means it will not collect data from users who have enabled this setting in their browser.
Matomo can be configured to not process any personal data or PII (personally identifiable information), which helps minimize the risk of data breaches.
Here are some ways Matomo helps protect user privacy:
- Opt-out mechanism
- Data retention configuration
- Anonymizing IP addresses
- Respecting DoNotTrack setting
- Not processing personal data or PII
Matomo is also compliant with various data protection regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, LGPD, and PECR. This means you can use it without worrying about violating these regulations.
Matomo collects and processes personal data, but only for specific purposes, such as providing services, security, billing, and account management.
Our Policy and Principles
Matomo's commitment to privacy is a guiding principle that shines through in their policies and practices. Matomo is GDPR compliant, which means they follow the General Data Protection Regulation, a set of rules that protect personal data.
The company takes data protection seriously, and their policies reflect this. They require website operators to inform users about the collection and processing of personal data, as stated in their data protection declaration. This declaration must include information on the scope of data collection, the legal basis for it, and the storage period.
Matomo's data protection declaration must also provide information on how users can withdraw their consent and implement this right, as stated in the GDPR. This transparency requirement is based on Article 13 of the GDPR.
Here are some key points about Matomo's data protection declaration:
- Clear expression of the scope of data collection
- Legal basis for data collection
- Storage period and criteria for it
- Right of withdrawal and its implementation
Matomo's commitment to privacy also extends to their software design. They have an open-source code that has been reviewed by hundreds of people to ensure it is secure and keeps user data private. This level of transparency and security is a testament to their dedication to protecting user data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my WordPress site need a privacy policy?
Yes, a WordPress site needs a privacy policy to protect your business from potential legal penalties and build trust with users. A well-crafted policy outlines how you collect, store, and handle personal data.
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