Analytics without consent
You can measure your website traffic without cookies or personal data. But it works differently than traditional analytics.
Traditional analytics
Consent required
Why most analytics need consent
Under GDPR and ePrivacy, consent is typically required when personal data is processed or when tracking technologies like cookies are used.
By not collecting personal data and not using cookies, the need for consent is often eliminated.
What makes cookieless analytics possible
Cookieless analytics measures traffic without storing anything on visitor devices, so no consent is required in most cases.
No cookies
Nothing stored on visitor devices
No identifiers
No way to single out individuals
No personal data
Zero personally identifiable information collected
Measure traffic, not users
Understand your traffic without tracking individual users
What you get
- Pageviews
- Referrers and traffic sources
- Top pages
- Devices and countries
- Events and conversions
- Trends over time
What you don't track
- Individual user identities
- Cross-session tracking
- Personal profiles
- User-level attribution
What this approach gives you
- No data loss from consent rejection
- No cookie banners needed
- Privacy compliance by design
- Simpler implementation
This approach does not include user-level tracking across sessions.
The problem
100
visitors arrive
Tracked
60
Missing
40
Traditional analytics loses up to 40% of traffic to consent rejection and ad blockers.
The consent data gap
When a visitor rejects consent, traditional analytics stops collecting data. The visit happened, but your dashboard doesn't show it.
This leads to missing sessions, missing sources, and incomplete decisions.
Simple Analytics captures this traffic because it doesn't rely on consent.
How Simple Analytics works without consent
Simple Analytics is designed from the ground up to avoid personal data entirely. This means consent is not required for basic website analytics.
No cookies
Nothing is stored in the visitor's browser
No personal data
IP addresses are never stored or processed
No cross-session tracking
Each pageview is independent; visitors are not linked across visits
No fingerprinting
No device or browser characteristics are used to identify visitors
Because no personal data is collected, Simple Analytics does not fall under GDPR consent requirements for analytics.
How teams use Simple Analytics
Two approaches depending on your needs
As your primary tool
Simple Analytics works well as a standalone solution when:
- You want a complete view of your website traffic
- You do not need user-level tracking across sessions
- You prefer a simple, privacy-friendly dashboard
- You want to avoid consent banners and legal complexity
Alongside Google Analytics
Use both tools together to capture the complete picture:
Simple Analytics
Captures all traffic, including users who reject consent
Google Analytics
Provides user-level tracking for consenting users
This approach is often called consent gap analytics: measure what you're missing.
Learn about consent gap analytics →See your analytics without consent
Analytics without consent is not a workaround. It is a different way of measuring your website.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
Is analytics without consent legal?
Yes, if the tool collects no personal data. Under GDPR, consent is required for processing personal data. Tools that measure aggregate traffic without identifying individuals don't fall under this requirement. Simple Analytics has been reviewed by multiple DPAs and confirmed to not require consent.
Can I replace Google Analytics with this?
Yes, for many use cases. If you need aggregate traffic data (pageviews, referrers, top pages, device breakdowns), Simple Analytics covers this without the complexity or privacy concerns of GA. For user-level tracking or attribution modeling, you can run both side by side.