Sur d’autres sites (3529)

• Matomo analytics for wordpress

  15 octobre 2019, par Matomo Core Team — Community
  Self-hosting web analytics got a whole lot easier ! Introducing Matomo for WordPress

  Be the first to try it out ! Your feedback is much needed and appreciated

  Get a fully functioning Matomo (which is comparable to Google Analytics) in seconds ! How ? With the new Matomo Analytics for WordPress plugin. 

  Web analytics in WordPress has never been easier to get, or more powerful. Matomo Analytics for WordPress is the one-stop problem solver. It’ll save you time, money and give you the insights to help your website or business succeed. 

  Best of all, we get to further the goal of decentralising the internet. Our hope is for Matomo Analytics for WordPress to spread far and wide. We’re so excited that more and more people can now get their hands on this powerful, free, open-source analytics platform, in a few clicks !

  Download now and check it out !

  Get Matomo for WordPress

  What do you get ?

  • No more signing up to third party analytics service (like Google)
  • No more sending away your valuable data to a third party service (like Google)
  • Easy setup – install with a few clicks, no tracking code installation or developer knowledge needed
  • 100% accurate data – no data sampling and no data limits 
  • Full data ownership – all data is stored on your servers and no one else can see your data
  • Privacy protection / GDPR compliance
  • Ecommerce tracking out-of-the-box (Woocommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and MemberPress) and we’re keen to add many more over time
  • Powerful features – segmenting, comparing reports, different visualisations, real-time reports, visit logs and visitor profiles, Matomo Tag Manager, dashboards, data export, APIs, and many more
  • Compared to other WordPress solutions we don’t charge you extra for basic features that should work out-of-the-box
  • Just like Matomo On-Premise, Matomo Analytics for WordPress is free

  We need your feedback !

  We all know and love the versatility of WordPress – with over 55,000 plugins and all the different ways of hosting it. However, with this great versatility comes the potential for things to be missed, so we’re keen to hear your feedback.

  • Is our plugin breaking anything on your WordPress, or, not compatible with something ? Please create an issue on our repository.
  • Is something not working ? If so, what ? Please create an issue on our repository.
  • How does running Matomo impact the performance of your WordPress server ? Also, if you have any other feedback for us – whether good or bad – please email us at wordpress@matomo.org. We’d love to hear what you think !
  • Can you perform a security review of the plugin ? Security issues are best reported to security@matomo.org
  • Do you have any questions ? Questions are best asked in our forum

  Thank you ! We really appreciate your help on this ❤️

  How do you get Matomo Analytics for WordPress ?

  Get Matomo for WordPress

  Log in to your WordPress and go to “Plugins => Add New”, search for “Matomo Analytics – Ethical Stats. Powerful Insights”, click on “Install” and then “Activate”.

  All you need is at least WordPress 4.8 and PHP 7.0 or later. MySQL 5.1+ is recommended. 

  The source code is available at : https://github.com/matomo-org/wp-matomo/. 
  

  In perfect harmony : Matomo and WordPress

  

  The idea for this started two years ago when we realised the similarities between the Matomo and WordPress project. 

  Not only from a technological point of view – where both are based on PHP and MySQL and can be extended using plugins – but also from a philosophical, license and values point of view. We both believe in privacy, security, data ownership, openness, transparency, having things working out-of-the-box, simplicity etc. 

  WordPress is currently used on approximately 30% of all websites. Many of them use the self-hosted open-source WordPress version. Giving everyone in this market the opportunity to easily get a powerful web analytics platform for free, means a lot to us. We believe WordPress users get a real choice besides the standard solution of Google Analytics, and it furthers our effort and goal of decentralising the internet. 

  We’re hoping more people will be empowered to protect user privacy, have access to a great free and open-source tool, and keep control of data in their own hands.

  We hope you feel the same. Help us spread the word to your friends and get them in on this awesome new project !

  Share on facebook

  Share on twitter

  Share on linkedin

  FAQs

  Isn’t there already a WP-Matomo plugin for WordPress available ?

  Yes, the existing WP-Matomo (WP-Piwik) plugin is an awesome plugin to connect your existing Matomo On-Premise or Matomo Cloud account with WordPress. The difference is that this new plugin installs Matomo Analytics fully in your WordPress. So you get the convenience of having a powerful analytics platform within your WordPress.

  We highly recommend you install this new plugin if you use WordPress and are not running Matomo yet. 

  If you are already using Matomo on our Cloud or On-Premise, we’d still highly recommend you use WP-Matomo (WP-Piwik). So that you get an easier way of inserting the tracking code into your WordPress site and get insights faster.

  I have a high traffic website, will it be an issue ?

  If you have a lot of traffic, we’d advise you to install Matomo On-Premise separately. There’s no specific traffic threshold we can give you on when it’s better to use Matomo On-Premise. It really depends on your server. 

  We reckon if you have more than 500,000 page views a month, you may want to think about using Matomo On-Premise with WP-Matomo instead, but this is just an estimate. In general, if the load on your server is already quite high, then it might be better to install Matomo on a separate server. See also recommended server sizing for running Matomo.

  How do I report a bug or request a new feature in Matomo for WordPress ?

  Please create an issue, on our repository whenever you find a bug or if you have any suggestion or ideas of improvement. We want to build an outstanding analytics experience for WordPress !

  Have another question you’re dying to ask ? The Matomo for WordPress FAQ page might have the answer you need. 

  Matomo Analytics for WordPress newsletter

  Get ahead of the crowd – signup to our exclusive Matomo for WordPress newsletter to get the latest updates on this exciting new project.

  &lt;script type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;&gt;<br />
(function(global) {<br />
 function serialize(form){if(!form||form.nodeName!==&quot;FORM&quot;){return }var i,j,q=[];for(i=form.elements.length-1;i&gt;=0;i=i-1){if(form.elements[i].name===&quot;&quot;){continue}switch(form.elements[i].nodeName){case&quot;INPUT&quot;:switch(form.elements[i].type){case&quot;text&quot;:case&quot;hidden&quot;:case&quot;password&quot;:case&quot;button&quot;:case&quot;reset&quot;:case&quot;submit&quot;:q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case&quot;checkbox&quot;:case&quot;radio&quot;:if(form.elements[i].checked){q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value))}break;case&quot;file&quot;:break}break;case&quot;TEXTAREA&quot;:q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case&quot;SELECT&quot;:switch(form.elements[i].type){case&quot;select-one&quot;:q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break;case&quot;select-multiple&quot;:for(j=form.elements[i].options.length-1;j&gt;=0;j=j-1){if(form.elements[i].options[j].selected){q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].options[j].value))}}break}break;case&quot;BUTTON&quot;:switch(form.elements[i].type){case&quot;reset&quot;:case&quot;submit&quot;:case&quot;button&quot;:q.push(form.elements[i].name+&quot;=&quot;+encodeURIComponent(form.elements[i].value));break}break}}return q.join(&quot;&amp;&quot;)};<br />
<br />
<br />
 function extend(destination, source) {<br />
   for (var prop in source) {<br />
     destination[prop] = source[prop];<br />
   }<br />
 }<br />
<br />
 if (!Mimi) var Mimi = {};<br />
 if (!Mimi.Signups) Mimi.Signups = {};<br />
<br />
 Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation = function() {<br />
   this.initialize();<br />
<br />
   var _this = this;<br />
   if (document.addEventListener) {<br />
     this.form.addEventListener('submit', function(e){<br />
       _this.onFormSubmit(e);<br />
     });<br />
   } else {<br />
     this.form.attachEvent('onsubmit', function(e){<br />
       _this.onFormSubmit(e);<br />
     });<br />
   }<br />
 };<br />
<br />
 extend(Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation.prototype, {<br />
   initialize: function() {<br />
     this.form         = document.getElementById('ema_signup_form');<br />
     this.submit       = document.getElementById('webform_submit_button');<br />
     this.callbackName = 'jsonp_callback_' + Math.round(100000 * Math.random());<br />
     this.validEmail   = /.+@.+\..+/<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   onFormSubmit: function(e) {<br />
     e.preventDefault();<br />
<br />
     this.validate();<br />
     if (this.isValid) {<br />
       this.submitForm();<br />
     } else {<br />
       this.revalidateOnChange();<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   validate: function() {<br />
     this.isValid = true;<br />
     this.emailValidation();<br />
     this.fieldAndListValidation();<br />
     this.updateFormAfterValidation();<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   emailValidation: function() {<br />
     var email = document.getElementById('signup_email');<br />
<br />
     if (this.validEmail.test(email.value)) {<br />
       this.removeTextFieldError(email);<br />
     } else {<br />
       this.textFieldError(email);<br />
       this.isValid = false;<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   fieldAndListValidation: function() {<br />
     var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll('.mimi_field.required');<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; fields.length; ++i) {<br />
       var field = fields[i],<br />
           type  = this.fieldType(field);<br />
       if (type === 'checkboxes' || type === 'radio_buttons' || type === 'age_check') {<br />
         this.checkboxAndRadioValidation(field);<br />
       } else {<br />
         this.textAndDropdownValidation(field, type);<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   fieldType: function(field) {<br />
     var type = field.querySelectorAll('.field_type');<br />
<br />
     if (type.length) {<br />
       return type[0].getAttribute('data-field-type');<br />
     } else if (field.className.indexOf('checkgroup') &gt;= 0) {<br />
       return 'checkboxes';<br />
     } else {<br />
       return 'text_field';<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   checkboxAndRadioValidation: function(field) {<br />
     var inputs   = field.getElementsByTagName('input'),<br />
         selected = false;<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; inputs.length; ++i) {<br />
       var input = inputs[i];<br />
       if((input.type === 'checkbox' || input.type === 'radio') &amp;&amp; input.checked) {<br />
         selected = true;<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
<br />
     if (selected) {<br />
       field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');<br />
     } else {<br />
       if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) {<br />
         field.className += ' invalid';<br />
       }<br />
<br />
       this.isValid = false;<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   textAndDropdownValidation: function(field, type) {<br />
     var inputs = field.getElementsByTagName('input');<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; inputs.length; ++i) {<br />
       var input = inputs[i];<br />
       if (input.name.indexOf('signup') &gt;= 0) {<br />
         if (type === 'text_field') {<br />
           this.textValidation(input);<br />
         } else {<br />
           this.dropdownValidation(field, input);<br />
         }<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
     this.htmlEmbedDropdownValidation(field);<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   textValidation: function(input) {<br />
     if (input.id === 'signup_email') return;<br />
<br />
     if (input.value) {<br />
       this.removeTextFieldError(input);<br />
     } else {<br />
       this.textFieldError(input);<br />
       this.isValid = false;<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   dropdownValidation: function(field, input) {<br />
     if (input.value) {<br />
       field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');<br />
     } else {<br />
       if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) field.className += ' invalid';<br />
       this.onSelectCallback(input);<br />
       this.isValid = false;<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   htmlEmbedDropdownValidation: function(field) {<br />
     var dropdowns = field.querySelectorAll('.mimi_html_dropdown');<br />
     var _this = this;<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; dropdowns.length; ++i) {<br />
       var dropdown = dropdowns[i];<br />
<br />
       if (dropdown.value) {<br />
         field.className = field.className.replace(/ invalid/g, '');<br />
       } else {<br />
         if (field.className.indexOf('invalid') === -1) field.className += ' invalid';<br />
         this.isValid = false;<br />
         dropdown.onchange = (function(){ _this.validate(); });<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   textFieldError: function(input) {<br />
     input.className   = 'required invalid';<br />
     input.placeholder = input.getAttribute('data-required-field');<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   removeTextFieldError: function(input) {<br />
     input.className   = 'required';<br />
     input.placeholder = '';<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   onSelectCallback: function(input) {<br />
     if (typeof Widget === 'undefined' || !Widget.BasicDropdown) return;<br />
<br />
     var dropdownEl = input.parentNode,<br />
         instances  = Widget.BasicDropdown.instances,<br />
         _this = this;<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; instances.length; ++i) {<br />
       var instance = instances[i];<br />
       if (instance.wrapperEl === dropdownEl) {<br />
         instance.onSelect = function(){ _this.validate() };<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   updateFormAfterValidation: function() {<br />
     this.form.className   = this.setFormClassName();<br />
     this.submit.value     = this.submitButtonText();<br />
     this.submit.disabled  = !this.isValid;<br />
     this.submit.className = this.isValid ? 'submit' : 'disabled';<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   setFormClassName: function() {<br />
     var name = this.form.className;<br />
<br />
     if (this.isValid) {<br />
       return name.replace(/\s?mimi_invalid/, '');<br />
     } else {<br />
       if (name.indexOf('mimi_invalid') === -1) {<br />
         return name += ' mimi_invalid';<br />
       } else {<br />
         return name;<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   submitButtonText: function() {<br />
     var invalidFields = document.querySelectorAll('.invalid'),<br />
         text;<br />
<br />
     if (this.isValid || !invalidFields) {<br />
       text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-default-text');<br />
     } else {<br />
       if (invalidFields.length || invalidFields[0].className.indexOf('checkgroup') === -1) {<br />
         text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-invalid-text');<br />
       } else {<br />
         text = this.submit.getAttribute('data-choose-list');<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
     return text;<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   submitForm: function() {<br />
     this.formSubmitting();<br />
<br />
     var _this = this;<br />
     window[this.callbackName] = function(response) {<br />
       delete window[this.callbackName];<br />
       document.body.removeChild(script);<br />
       _this.onSubmitCallback(response);<br />
     };<br />
<br />
     var script = document.createElement('script');<br />
     script.src = this.formUrl('json');<br />
     document.body.appendChild(script);<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   formUrl: function(format) {<br />
     var action  = this.form.action;<br />
     if (format === 'json') action += '.json';<br />
     return action + '?callback=' + this.callbackName + '&amp;' + serialize(this.form);<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   formSubmitting: function() {<br />
     this.form.className  += ' mimi_submitting';<br />
     this.submit.value     = this.submit.getAttribute('data-submitting-text');<br />
     this.submit.disabled  = true;<br />
     this.submit.className = 'disabled';<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   onSubmitCallback: function(response) {<br />
     if (response.success) {<br />
       this.onSubmitSuccess(response.result);<br />
     } else {<br />
       top.location.href = this.formUrl('html');<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   onSubmitSuccess: function(result) {<br />
     if (result.has_redirect) {<br />
       top.location.href = result.redirect;<br />
     } else if(result.single_opt_in || !result.confirmation_html) {<br />
       this.disableForm();<br />
       this.updateSubmitButtonText(this.submit.getAttribute('data-thanks'));<br />
     } else {<br />
       this.showConfirmationText(result.confirmation_html);<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   showConfirmationText: function(html) {<br />
     var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll('.mimi_field');<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; fields.length; ++i) {<br />
       fields[i].style['display'] = 'none';<br />
     }<br />
<br />
     (this.form.querySelectorAll('fieldset')[0] || this.form).innerHTML = html;<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   disableForm: function() {<br />
     var elements = this.form.elements;<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; elements.length; ++i) {<br />
       elements[i].disabled = true;<br />
     }<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   updateSubmitButtonText: function(text) {<br />
     this.submit.value = text;<br />
   },<br />
<br />
   revalidateOnChange: function() {<br />
     var fields = this.form.querySelectorAll(&quot;.mimi_field.required&quot;),<br />
         _this = this;<br />
<br />
     var onTextFieldChange = function() {<br />
       if (this.getAttribute('name') === 'signup[email]') {<br />
         if (_this.validEmail.test(this.value)) _this.validate();<br />
       } else {<br />
         if (this.value.length === 1) _this.validate();<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
<br />
     for (var i = 0; i &lt; fields.length; ++i) {<br />
       var inputs = fields[i].getElementsByTagName('input');<br />
       for (var j = 0; j &lt; inputs.length; ++j) {<br />
         if (this.fieldType(fields[i]) === 'text_field') {<br />
           inputs[j].onkeyup = onTextFieldChange;<br />
           inputs[j].onchange = onTextFieldChange; <br />
         } else {<br />
           inputs[j].onchange = function(){ _this.validate() };<br />
         }<br />
       }<br />
     }<br />
   }<br />
 });<br />
<br />
 if (document.addEventListener) {<br />
   document.addEventListener(&quot;DOMContentLoaded&quot;, function() {<br />
     new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();<br />
   });<br />
 }<br />
 else {<br />
   window.attachEvent('onload', function() {<br />
     new Mimi.Signups.EmbedValidation();<br />
   });<br />
 }<br />
})(this);<br />
&lt;/script&gt;

  Get Matomo for WordPress

• What is PII ? Your introduction to personally identifiable information

  15 janvier 2020, par Joselyn Khor — Analytics Tips, Privacy, Security
  Most websites you visit collect information about you via tools like Google Analytics and Matomo – sometimes collecting personally identifiable information (PII).

  When it comes to PII, people are becoming more concerned about data privacy. Identifiable information can be used for illegal purposes like identity theft and fraud. 

  So how can you protect yourself as an innocent internet browser ? In the case of website owners – how do you protect users and your company from falling prey to privacy breaches ?

  

  As one of the most trusted analytics companies, we feel our readers would benefit from being as informed as possible about data privacy issues and PII. Learn what it means, and what you can do to keep yours or others’ information safe.

  Table of Contents

  What does PII stand for ?

  PII acronym

  PII is an acronym for personally identifiable information.

  PII definition

  Personally identifiable information (PII) is a term used predominantly in the United States.

  The appendix of OMB M-10-23 (Guidance for Agency Use of Third-Party Website and Applications) gives this definition for PII :

  “The term ‘personally identifiable information’ refers to information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, social security number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc.”

  What can be considered personally identifiable information (PII) ? Some PII examples :

  • Full name/usernames
  • Home address/mailing address
  • Email address
  • Credit card numbers
  • Date of birth
  • Phone numbers
  • Login details

  • Precise locations
  • Account numbers
  • Passwords
  • Security codes (including biometric records)
  • Personal identification numbers
  • Driver license number
  • Get a more comprehensive list here

  What’s non-PII ?

  Anonymous information, or information that can’t be traced back to an individual, can be considered non-PII.

  Who is affected by the exploitation of PII ?

  Anyone can be affected by the exploitation of personal data, where you have identity theft, account fraud and account takeovers. When websites resort to illegally selling or sharing your data and compromising your privacy, the fear is falling victim to such fraudulent activity. 

  PII can also be an issue when employees have access to the database and the data is not encrypted. For example, anyone working in a bank can access your accounts ; anyone working at Facebook may be able to read your messages. This shows how privacy breaches can easily happen when employees have access to PII.

  Website owner’s responsibility for data privacy (PII and analytics)

  To respect your website visitor’s privacy, best practice is to avoid collecting PII whenever possible. If you work in an industry which requires people to disclose personal information (e.g. healthcare, security industries, public sector), then you must ensure this data is collected and handled securely. 

  

  The US National Institute of Standards and Technology states : “The likelihood of harm caused by a breach involving PII is greatly reduced if an organisation minimises the amount of PII it uses, collects, and stores. For example, an organisation should only request PII in a new form if the PII is absolutely necessary.” 

  How you’re held accountable remains up to the privacy laws of the country you’re doing business in. Make sure you are fully aware of the privacy and data protection laws that relate specifically to you. 

  To reduce the risk of privacy breaches, try collecting as little PII as you can ; purging it as soon as you can ; and making sure your IT security is updated and protected against security threats. 

  If you’re using data collection tools like web analytics, data may be tracked through features like User ID, custom variables, and custom dimensions. Sometimes they are also harder to identify when they are present, for example, in page URLs, page titles, or referrers URLs. So make sure you’re optimising your web analytics tools’ settings to ensure you’re asking your users for consent and respecting users’ privacy.

  If you’re using a GDPR compliant tool like Matomo, learn how you can stop processing such personal data

  PII, GDPR and businesses in the US/EU

  Because PII is broad, you may run into confusion when considering PII and GDPR (which applies in the EU). The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides more safeguards for user privacy.

  GDPR grants people in the EU more rights concerning their “personal data” (more on PII vs personal data below). In the EU the GDPR restricts the collection and processing of personal data. The repercussions are severe penalties and fines for privacy infringements. Businesses are required to handle this personal data carefully. You can be fined up to 4% of their yearly revenue for data breaches or non-compliance. 

  

  Although there isn’t an overarching data protection law in the US, there are hundreds of laws on both the federal and state levels to protect the personal data of US residents. US Congress has also enacted industry-specific statutes related to data privacy, and the state of California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act. 

  To be on the safe side, if you are using analytics, follow matters relating to “personal data” in the GDPR. It’s all-encompassing when it comes to protecting user privacy. GDPR rules still apply whenever an EU citizen visits any non EU site (that processes personal data).

  Personally identifiable information (PII) vs personal data

  PII and “personal data” aren’t used interchangeably. All personal data can be PII, but not all PII can be defined as personal data.

  The definition of “personal data” according to the GDPR :

  

  This means “personal data” encompasses a greater number of identifiers which include the online sphere. Examples include : IP addresses and URL names. As well as seemingly “innocent” data like height, job position, company etc. 

  What’s considered personal data depends on the context. If a piece of information can be combined with others to establish someone’s identity then that can be considered personal data. 

  Under GDPR, when processing personal data, you need explicit consent. You need to ensure you’re compliant according to GDPR definitions of “personal data” not just what’s considered “PII”.

  How Matomo deals with PII and personal data

  Although Matomo Analytics is a web analytics software that tracks user activity on your website, we take privacy and PII very seriously – on both our Cloud and On-Premise offerings. 

  If you’re using Matomo and would like to know how you can be fully GDPR compliant and protect user privacy, read more :
  

  • Learn how to not process any personally identifiable information – Anonymise IP addresses, user IDs, and order IDs
  • Matomo protects user privacy by talking the talk and walking the walk
  • Stay ahead of the GDPR with a privacy-respecting analytics platform
  • 11 ways Matomo helps you protect your visitor’s privacy

  Disclaimer

  We are not lawyers and don’t claim to be. The information provided here is to help give an introduction to issues you may encounter when dealing with PII. We encourage every business and website to take data privacy seriously and discuss these issues with your lawyer if you have any concerns. 

  Additional resources :

  • https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/identity-theft-statistics.html#identity-theft-trends-in-2019
  • https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en
  • https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations/usa
  • https://www.csoonline.com/article/3215864/how-to-protect-personally-identifiable-information-pii-under-gdpr.html
  • https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/key-definitions/what-is-personal-data/

• Your introduction to personally identifiable information : What is PII ?

  15 janvier 2020, par Joselyn Khor — Analytics Tips, Privacy, Security
  When it comes to personally identifiable information (PII), people are becoming more concerned with data privacy. Identifiable information can be used for illegal purposes like identity theft and fraud. 

  So how can you protect yourself as an innocent web browser ?

  If you’re a website owner – how do you protect users and your company from falling prey to privacy breaches ?

  As one of the most trusted analytics companies, we feel our readers would benefit from being as informed as possible about data privacy issues and PII. Learn how you can keep yours or others’ information safe.

  

  Table of Contents

  What does PII stand for ?

  PII acronym

  PII is an acronym for personally identifiable information.

  PII definition

  Personally identifiable information (PII) is a term mainly used in the United States.

  The appendix of OMB M-10-23 (Guidance for Agency Use of Third-Party Website and Applications) gives this definition for PII :

  “The term ‘personally identifiable information’ refers to information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, social security number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc.”

  What can be considered personally identifiable information (PII) ? Some PII examples :

  • Full name/usernames
  • Home address/mailing address
  • Email address
  • Credit card numbers
  • Date of birth
  • Phone numbers
  • Login details

  • Precise locations
  • Account numbers
  • Passwords
  • Security codes (including biometric records)
  • Personal identification numbers
  • Driver license number
  • Get a more comprehensive list here

  What’s non-PII ?

  Anonymous information, or information that can’t be traced back to an individual, can be considered non-PII. 

  Who is affected by the exploitation of PII ?

  Anyone can be affected by the misuse of personal data. Websites can compromise your privacy by mishandling or illegally selling/sharing your data. That may lead identity theft, account fraud and account takeovers. The fear is falling victim to such fraudulent activity. 

  PII can also be an issue when employees have access to the database and the data is not encrypted. For example, anyone working in a bank can access your accounts ; and anyone working at Facebook can read your messages. This shows how privacy breaches can easily happen when employees have access to PII.

  Website owner’s responsibility for data privacy (PII and analytics)

  If you’re using a web analytics tool like Google Analytics or Matomo, best practise is to not collect PII if possible. This is to better respect your website visitor’s privacy. 

  If you work in an industry which needs people to share personal information (e.g. healthcare, security industries, public sector), then you must collect and handle this data securely. 

  

  The US National Institute of Standards and Technology states : “The likelihood of harm caused by a breach involving PII is greatly reduced if an organisation minimises the amount of PII it uses, collects, and stores. For example, an organisation should only request PII in a new form if the PII is absolutely necessary.” 

  How you’re held accountable remains up to the privacy laws of the country you’re doing business in. Make sure you are fully aware of the privacy and data protection laws that relate specifically to you. 

  To reduce the risk of privacy breaches, try collecting as little PII as you can ; purging it as soon as you can ; and making sure your IT security is updated and protected against security threats. 

  With data collection tools like web analytics, data may be tracked through features like User ID, custom variables, and custom dimensions. Sometimes they are also harder to identify when they are present, for example, in page URLs, page titles, or referrers URLs. So make sure you’re optimising your web analytics tools’ settings to ensure you’re asking your users for consent and respecting users’ privacy.

  If you’re using a GDPR compliant tool like Matomo, learn how you can stop processing such personal data

  PII, GDPR and businesses in the US/EU

  You may get confused when considering PII and GDPR (which applies in the EU). The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives people in the EU more rights over “personal data” – which covers more identifiers than PII (more on PII vs personal data below). GDPR restricts the collection and processing of personal data so businesses need to handle this personal data carefully. 

  According to the GDPR, you can be fined up to 4% of their yearly revenue for data/privacy breaches or non-compliance. 

  

  In the US, there isn’t one overarching data protection law, but there are hundreds of laws on both the federal and state levels to protect PII of US residents. US Congress has enacted industry-specific statutes related to data privacy like HIPAA. Recently state of California also passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). 

  To be on the safe side, if you’re using analytics, follow matters relating to “personal data” in the GDPR. It covers more when it comes to protecting user privacy. GDPR rules still apply whenever an EU citizen visits any non EU site (that processes personal data).

  Personally identifiable information (PII) vs personal data

  PII and “personal data” aren’t used interchangeably. All personal data can be PII, but not all PII can be defined as personal data.

  The definition of “personal data” according to the GDPR :

  

  This means “personal data” covers more identifiers, including online identifiers. Examples include : IP addresses and URL names. As well as seemingly “innocent” data like height, job position, company etc. 

  What’s seen as personal data depends on the context. If a piece of information can be combined with others to establish someone’s identity then that can be considered personal data. 

  Under GDPR, when processing personal data, you need explicit consent. So best to be compliant according to GDPR definitions of “personal data” not just what’s considered “PII”.

  How do you keep PII safe ?

  • Try not to give your data away so easily. Read through terms and conditions.
  • Don’t just click ‘agree’ when faced with consent screens, as consent screens are majorly flawed. 
  • Disable third party cookies by default. 
  • Use strong passwords.
  • Be wary of public wifi – hackers can easily access your PII or sensitive data. Use a VPN (virtual private network)
  • Read more on how to keep PII safe. For businesses here’s a checklist on PII compliance.

  How Matomo deals with PII and personal data

  Although Matomo Analytics is a web analytics tool that tracks user activity on your website, we take privacy and PII very seriously – on both our Cloud and On-Premise offerings. 

  If you’re using Matomo and would like to know how you can be fully GDPR compliant and protect user privacy, read more :
  

  • Learn how to not process any personally identifiable information – Anonymise IP addresses, user IDs, and order IDs
  • Matomo protects user privacy by talking the talk and walking the walk
  • Stay ahead of the GDPR with a privacy-respecting analytics platform
  • 11 ways Matomo helps you protect your visitor’s privacy

  Disclaimer

  We are not lawyers and don’t claim to be. The information provided here is to help give an introduction to issues you may encounter when dealing with PII. We encourage every business and website to take data privacy seriously and discuss these issues with your lawyer if you have any concerns. 

  Additional resources :

  • https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/identity-theft-statistics.html#identity-theft-trends-in-2019
  • https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en
  • https://iclg.com/practice-areas/data-protection-laws-and-regulations/usa
  • https://www.csoonline.com/article/3215864/how-to-protect-personally-identifiable-information-pii-under-gdpr.html
  • https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/key-definitions/what-is-personal-data/