[Ann] Google Analytics for desktop apps

In webapps it’s very easy to track what the user does. In desktop apps this is much harder. As usual Google has a solution which is called Google Measurement Protocol. You can track everything and your desktop app. I have made a simple module at

http://www.mothsoftware.com/downloads/GoogleAnalytics.zip

The code is tested on macOS but should run also on Windows. MBS is used but only for a few calls.

Google Analytics then can be used to visualise for instance who a user moves through the application.

Any app doing this on my computer will be immediately deleted, and exceedingly negative feedback will be left for the app.

Idon‘t know what is more creepy - Google doing this, or people liking it.

I wonder if such a tracking would be allowed with current EU data protection rights. I guess no.

@Markus Winter: You don’t have to use this module or my app. Which as the option to deactivate Google tracking.

@Thomas Eckert: As for the GPDR: the data is anonymised. Nobody really cares what you do in regards to the GPDR except the really bad data breaches. And you simply have to declare what you do.

I can assure you, our customers don’t think so and would instantly cancel our contracts even if it was an optional “feature”. We are only “allowed” to locally log issues and such and any report sent to me must be reviewed by the client user before it is allowed to leave the system.

BTW: On my private systems, i would even remove such apps if they were doing an opt-out before they use it. The only exception would be apps i cannot work without. but they would receive really bad reviews by me.

While I can agree about some considerations about privacy and security, I believe Beatrix should not be blamed for that.
She just shared the code and for this we should say thank you.

Then every one is free to use it or not.

We are just giving our opinions and do not blame someone. :slight_smile:

in the hospital industry, you will never get any future public market without certifying you’re completely GDPR.
and there will be verifications starting 2019. don’t be too lazy with this, all suppliers chain must be GDPR.
may be your customers don’t care today, but they will be … soon.

[quote=416068:@Beatrix Willius]
@Thomas Eckert: As for the GPDR: the data is anonymised. Nobody really cares what you do in regards to the GPDR except the really bad data breaches. And you simply have to declare what you do.[/quote]

Not the case. You anonymize the data so it is known to you. Simple declaring what you do with the data does not give you a free pass under GPDR. And people do care about data collection and are becoming more so.