Privacy Analytics Researcher
Berlin, Germany
I help companies measure what matters — without handing their data to Google. Ten years in data engineering, now focused entirely on privacy-first web analytics.
How I got here
In 2020, a client in Munich called me in a panic. Their legal team had just told them Google Analytics might be illegal under GDPR. They asked me: “What do we use instead?”
I didn’t have a good answer. So I started looking for one.
I deployed Matomo, Plausible, Fathom, Umami, and a dozen others on real projects. Ran them side by side with GA4. Measured the gaps. Found that GA4 misses over half the traffic when consent banners are involved. Found that most “alternatives” reviews are written by people who never installed the tools.
This blog exists because I got tired of that.
Everything here comes from real deployments on real sites. No affiliate deals, no sponsored posts, no “top 10” lists copied from other “top 10” lists.
What I write about
- Privacy-first analytics tools — real tests, real data
- GA4 accuracy problems and what to do about them
- GDPR compliance for marketers who aren’t lawyers
- Server-side tracking and cookieless measurement
- Migration guides for leaving Google Analytics
About this site
Identity 2.0 was started in 2005 by Dick Hardt, co-author of the OpenID 2.0 spec and one of the earliest voices in user-centric digital identity. The original posts from 2005–2010 remain in the archive.
The site now continues that conversation: who controls your data, and how do you measure your audience without surveillance?
Questions about privacy-first analytics? [email protected]