Beginning January 19, 2009 the Duke University Libraries will use Google Analytics to gather statistics on portions of its web site. The Libraries will use the information gathered to improve web services for its patrons. Google Analytics employs cookies to define user sessions , which allows for the collection of important data about how our patrons are using the Library’s site. Google Analytics uses only first-party cookies for data analysis. This means that the cookies are linked to the Libraries’ website domain(s), and Google Analytics will only use that cookie data for statistical analysis related to your browsing behavior on the Libraries’ websites According to Google, the data collected cannot be altered or retrieved by services from other domains. If you choose, you can opt out by turning off cookies in the preferences settings in your browser. For more information on Google Analytics, please visit Google’s web site.
someday it would be interesting to try this. It’s not a task for you, just would be fun to talk about sometime 🙂
It looks like North Carolina’s data privacy laws are looser than many states: http://ftp.legislature.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_125/GS_125-19.html. Exception B1 looks open to ambiguous interpretation.
We examined Google Analytics’ EULA and noted that you’re forbidden form reverse engineering the code, they can change it any time, and if it sits on a private/SSL page it can architecturally render the entire DOM contents visible to Google via javascript, effectively exposing research habits with a third party.