Czechia will start using an open source web analytics tool, Matomo, on government websites, announced Czechia’s National Agency for Communication and Information Technologies (NAKIT) recently. Matomo will replace Google Analytics at the Czech citizen portal and gov.cz websites.
The change ensures that the data collected will stay within the EU. As the Czech administration uses its own instance of Matomo, they will retain full control of the records stored.
The change was triggered by an open letter sent by the Czech organisation luridicum Remedium after the digital freedom watchdog noticed the Czech state vaccination system website was using Google Analytics during the COVID-19 crisis. NAKIT and the Czech Data Protection Authority put the topic on their agenda and replaced Google Analytics with Matomo on Czechia’s Ministry of Health website. This move later led to wider actions, and according to Nakit, the country will continue following this trend on public administration websites.
Previously named Piwik, Matomo has been in development since 2007. It is currently used on 1.4 million websites. The Czech decision to opt for Matomo follows other European countries seeking to preserve more control over their citizens’ data. Last year, French and Austrian data protection authorities found Google Analytics not compliant with EU standards.