Privacy-Preserving Analytics for Advocacy Sites

Why Privacy-Preserving Analytics?

Traditional analytics (Google Analytics) pose serious risks for immigrant communities:

Risk	Impact
IP address logging	Location tracking
Device fingerprinting	User identification
Cookie tracking	Cross-site surveillance
Third-party data sharing	Corporate/government access
Subpoena vulnerability	Legal exposure

An advocacy site claiming to protect immigrants must not feed user data into surveillance ecosystems.

---

Cookieless Analytics Options

Recommended Platforms

Platform	Cost	Privacy Features	Hosting
Plausible	$9/mo+	No cookies, IP hashing, EU servers	Cloud or self-hosted
Fathom	$14/mo+	No cookies, EU data isolation	Cloud only
Simple Analytics	$19/mo+	No cookies, no fingerprinting	Cloud only
Umami	Free	Open source, self-hosted	Self-hosted only

Why Not Google Analytics?

Issue	Problem
Cookies required	GDPR consent banner needed
IP logging	Location surveillance
Data sharing	Google advertising ecosystem
Complex	Overwhelming for simple needs
Legal risk	Data subpoena concerns

---

Plausible Implementation

Cloud Setup

1. Create account at plausible.io
2. Add your domain
3. Add script to site

Add to _includes/layouts/base.njk:

<script defer data-domain="yourdomain.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script>

Self-Hosted Setup

For maximum privacy, self-host Plausible:

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.3'
services:
  plausible:
    image: plausible/analytics:latest
    restart: always
    command: sh -c "sleep 10 && /entrypoint.sh db createdb && /entrypoint.sh db migrate && /entrypoint.sh run"
    ports:
      - 8000:8000
    environment:
      - DATABASE_URL=postgres://plausible:plausible@db:5432/plausible_db
      - SECRET_KEY_BASE=your-secret-key
      - DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true

Key Metrics Available

Metric	SEO Value
Page views	Content performance
Unique visitors	Reach estimation
Referrers	Backlink tracking
Top pages	Popular content identification
Countries	Geographic reach
Devices	Mobile vs desktop split

---

Google Search Console

Setup

1. Go to Search Console
2. Add property (your domain)
3. Verify ownership (HTML file, DNS, or Google Tag)

Key Reports for SEO

Performance Report

Metric	What It Shows	Action
Impressions	How often you appear in search	Track visibility growth
Clicks	Actual traffic from search	Measure success
CTR	Click-through rate	Optimize titles/descriptions
Position	Average ranking	Track optimization impact

Filter by:

• Query (keyword analysis)
• Page (content performance)
• Country (geographic targeting)
• Device (mobile vs desktop)

Index Coverage

Monitor for issues:

Status	Meaning	Action
Valid	Indexed and working	Good
Warning	Indexed with issues	Review and fix
Error	Not indexed	Fix immediately
Excluded	Intentionally not indexed	Verify correct

Core Web Vitals

Track performance metrics:

• LCP, INP, CLS over time
• Mobile vs Desktop comparison
• URL-level issues

Query Analysis

Find optimization opportunities:

Filter: Impressions > 100, CTR < 3%

These are queries where you appear but don't get clicks.
Opportunities:
1. Improve title tag
2. Improve meta description
3. Target featured snippet

---

Event Tracking

Privacy-Preserving Event Tracking

Track key interactions without cookies:

Plausible custom events:

// Track hotline clicks
document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="tel:"]').forEach(link => {
  link.addEventListener('click', () => {
    plausible('Hotline Click');
  });
});

// Track resource downloads
document.querySelectorAll('a[href$=".pdf"]').forEach(link => {
  link.addEventListener('click', () => {
    plausible('PDF Download', {props: {file: link.href}});
  });
});

Goals to Track

Goal	Trigger	SEO Value
Hotline clicks	Click on tel: link	Crisis engagement
PDF downloads	Click on .pdf link	Resource usage
Legal aid clicks	Click to external legal aid	User journey completion
Language switches	Language selector use	Multilingual usage

---

Privacy-First Configuration

No Personal Data Collection

Ensure analytics configuration:

// Plausible - already privacy-first by default

// If using any custom tracking:
const trackEvent = (name, props = {}) => {
  // Never include:
  // - IP addresses
  // - User identifiers
  // - Form input values
  // - Geographic coordinates
  // - Device fingerprints

  // Safe to include:
  // - Page path
  // - Event name
  // - Aggregated categories
  plausible(name, {props});
};

Data Retention

Setting	Recommendation
Retention period	Minimum needed (30-90 days)
IP logging	Disabled or hashed
User identifiers	None
Cross-site tracking	Disabled

---

No Cookie Consent Required

Because cookieless analytics don't use:

• Cookies
• Local storage
• Device fingerprinting
• Cross-site tracking

You don't need a cookie consent banner - improving user experience and Core Web Vitals.

---

Dashboard Setup

Key SEO Dashboard Widgets

Widget	Data Source	Frequency
Organic traffic trend	Plausible	Daily
Top landing pages	Plausible	Weekly
Search queries	Search Console	Weekly
Index coverage	Search Console	Weekly
Core Web Vitals	Search Console	Monthly
Top referrers	Plausible	Weekly

Weekly SEO Review

1. Traffic check - Any significant changes?
2. Query analysis - New opportunities?
3. Index errors - Any pages dropped?
4. Top content - What's performing?
5. Referrers - New backlinks?

---

Compliance Documentation

Privacy Policy Language

## Analytics

We use privacy-preserving analytics that:
- Do NOT use cookies
- Do NOT track IP addresses
- Do NOT create user profiles
- Do NOT share data with third parties
- Do NOT allow cross-site tracking

We collect only aggregate, anonymous data:
- Page views (not tied to individuals)
- General geographic region (country level)
- Device type (mobile/desktop)
- Referral sources

No personal information is collected, stored, or shared.

For Legal Review

Document that your analytics:

• Comply with GDPR (no personal data processing)
• Comply with CCPA (no sale of personal information)
• Do not require consent under ePrivacy Directive
• Cannot be subpoenaed for individual user data

---

Analytics Checklist

Setup

• [ ] Privacy-preserving analytics installed (Plausible/Fathom)
• [ ] Search Console verified
• [ ] Sitemap submitted to Search Console
• [ ] Goal/event tracking configured
• [ ] Team access configured

Monitoring

• [ ] Weekly traffic review scheduled
• [ ] Search Console alerts enabled
• [ ] Index coverage monitored
• [ ] Core Web Vitals tracked

Privacy

• [ ] No cookies used
• [ ] No IP logging
• [ ] No cross-site tracking
• [ ] Privacy policy updated
• [ ] No consent banner needed

---

Next Steps

1. Review keyword research - Use query data for optimization
2. Check technical SEO - Verify Core Web Vitals
3. Optimize featured snippets - Use CTR data for improvements