A practical guide
Choosing privacy-friendly website analytics
“Privacy-friendly” is a useful starting point, not a specification. Compare exactly what the script reads and sends, whether anything persists on a visitor’s device, how identifiers are made and retained, and whether the reports fit your work.
When quietstats may fit
quietstats is designed around aggregate website statistics. It sets no analytics cookies and uses no localStorage, sessionStorage or IndexedDB. A temporary daily-salted hash supports same-day visitor counting; raw IP addresses and user agents are not stored, and yesterday’s salt is deleted.
- Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are respected by the default snippet.
- It provides visitor, pageview, visit, bounce-rate, source, campaign, country and device reports, plus AI referrals, goals and alerts.
- Its method still processes request data in memory. “Privacy-friendly” does not mean no data is processed.
When privacy-friendly website analytics may fit
Different tools make different trade-offs. Some offer self-hosting or open source; others offer a persistent visitor identifier, session replay, advertising integrations or deeper product analytics. Those may be appropriate, but they call for different privacy and governance choices.
- Read the provider’s collection documentation and data-processing terms.
- Check retention, data location, access controls and whether optional features change what is collected.
- Confirm that any opt-out works and that the product is used only for the purpose described.
The trade-off to understand
A privacy-first design can mean fewer cross-session journeys, profiles and advertising integrations. Decide which analytics questions you actually need answered before adding more collection.
Before you change tools
Before switching, list the reports and data you depend on, export what you need, and note how each tool defines visitors, visits and conversions. quietstats imports historical daily totals from Plausible or GA4; other providers’ exports remain separate.
Questions to ask
What should I check before choosing?
Check device storage, transmitted fields, identifier lifespan, raw IP handling, retention, opt-out, sub-processors, export options and the metrics you need.
Does privacy-friendly analytics always avoid consent?
No. Rules vary, and a product’s configuration and purpose matter. In the UK, the ICO explains a statistical-purposes exception with conditions; other tools on the site may still need consent.
Does quietstats store visitor IP addresses?
No. The request includes the IP address, which is used in memory to make a daily hash and derive coarse location; the raw address is not written to the analytics database.
Sources
Provider and regulator pages checked 26 October 2026. Prices, terms and features can change; confirm details on the linked pages.
Third-party product names are trademarks of their respective owners. quietstats is not affiliated with these providers. This information is not legal advice.
Related pages
Website analytics without cookies: how it works · quietstats How it works & privacy · quietstats Methodology: how quietstats counts visitors, visits, bounce rate and duration Compliance: PECR, UK GDPR, sub-processors & retention · quietstats
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