[ddevault]

Tracking users is unethical. The law is there not so that you can wiggle your way around it, but to make a statement about this behavior. Laws are not scripts and they are not interpreted by computers. You are going to get fined for doing this, and it'll be well deserved.

Do not spy on people.

It's that simple.

Don't use google analytics. Don't use any of the dozens of alternatives which are selling you "pro-privacy" analytics, which is a contradiction of terms. Just don't spy on people.

[toomanybeersies]

User tracking and analytics, like most technologies, is ethically neutral.

It's how people utilise it that has an ethical/moral component.

[Nextgrid]

Even if your use of the collected data is ethical, exposing your users to a third-party's unethical use of the collected data is itself unethical IMO.

Using Google Analytics and similar services from companies whose entire business is built on stalking people is unethical and should be avoided.

[SquareWheel]

Calling it spying is hyperbole, and thrusting your personal ethics on others is nonproductive.

If analytics turn you off, there are plenty of browser extensions which will block them on your behalf. uBlock Origin is the most common example.

https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

[ddevault]

Does installing uBlock qualify as informed consent?