AnalyticsGoogle Analytics and the GDPR: agreement, role and data location.
Google Analytics is a analytics tool. Most customers use it as a processor, it explains how to get its data processing agreement, and the data location depends on your account. Below: what to check and how to declare it.
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In short
- Category
- Analytics
- Usual role
- Usually a processor
- Data location
- Set per account or project
- Agreement
- Obtained through the vendor
What does Google Analytics do with personal data?
Measure website or service usage and understand visitor interactions. That is how Privacyboard describes a typical use of Google Analytics, as a starting point you can edit.
The data usually involved: usage events, device and browser information, user identifiers and IP addresses where collected.
Is Google Analytics a processor or a controller?
Most customers use Google Analytics as a processor: it handles personal data on their instructions, for the purposes they set. That is the common reading for analytics tools and it is what Privacyboard suggests.
As a processor, it needs a written agreement with you under Article 28, and you should know which subprocessors it uses. Confirm the role against your own agreement, because the way you use a tool can change it.
Where does Google Analytics store personal data?
Google Analytics does not have one fixed location for every customer. Processed in several regions, including the US.
How to find yours: Google documents data storage in its Analytics help center; EU data may still be processed outside the EU.
Even when the main location is in the EU, ask whether subprocessors or support access involve a transfer outside the EEA, and record it if so.
Does Google Analytics have a data processing agreement?
Checked on 1 November 2026. Vendors change their pages, so check the date.
Google Analytics does not publish the full text of its data processing agreement on a public page. The reference page explains how a customer gets or signs it, usually from inside the account. Article 28 of the GDPR still requires a written contract, so get it and keep a copy.
What we noted when we opened the page: Data Processing Terms are accepted in the Google Analytics account settings; there is no file to download.
A page that exists does not mean you are covered. Whether the agreement applies to you depends on your plan and on what you accepted, so record the decision yourself in your vendor list.
Open the Google Analytics reference pageHow to declare Google Analytics
- 1
In your privacy policy
Name Google Analytics as a recipient, say what it is used for (measure website or service usage and understand visitor interactions) and mention any transfer outside the EEA. Articles 13 and 14 ask you to tell people who receives their data.
- 2
In your vendor list
Add Google Analytics with its purpose, the data involved, its role, its region and a link to the agreement. Privacyboard prefills all of this, you confirm or correct it.
- 3
In your processing register
Link Google Analytics to the activities that use it, so each record shows its recipients. Article 30 asks the register to list the categories of recipients.
What to check before relying on Google Analytics
- Check whether the tool sets cookies or reads device data, and what consent that requires.
- Say in your privacy policy what is measured and for how long it is kept.
- Review IP address handling, data retention and the data region settings.
- Confirm whether the provider uses the data for its own purposes.
Questions, answered.
Is Google Analytics GDPR compliant?
Privacyboard does not certify vendors. Compliance depends on how Google Analytics is configured and used, on the agreement you have with it and on your own practices. What can be checked is documented here: it explains how to get a data processing agreement, the usual role and the data location. Read the agreement itself before relying on it.
Does Google Analytics have a DPA?
Google Analytics does not publish the full text of its data processing agreement on a public page. The reference page explains how a customer gets or signs it, usually from inside the account. Article 28 of the GDPR still requires a written contract, so get it and keep a copy. The reference page is https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636.
Is Google Analytics a data processor?
Usually, yes. Most customers use Google Analytics as a processor that acts on their instructions. Check your own agreement and how you use the tool, because the role can differ.
Where does Google Analytics store data?
Google Analytics does not have one fixed location for every customer. Processed in several regions, including the US. How to find yours: Google documents data storage in its Analytics help center; EU data may still be processed outside the EU.
Do I need to mention Google Analytics in my privacy policy?
Yes, if Google Analytics handles personal data for you. The GDPR asks you to tell people who receives their data (Articles 13 and 14). Name the vendor or its category, say what it is used for and mention any transfer outside the EEA.
How do I add Google Analytics to my vendor list?
In Privacyboard, pick Google Analytics from the catalog. The purpose, the data, the suggested role and a link to its agreement are prefilled, and you confirm each one. Creating a workspace is free.
Privacyboard is not affiliated with Google Analytics. Names and logos belong to their owners and are used only to identify the tool. This page summarises public documents as checked on 1 November 2026; it is guidance, not legal advice, and it does not certify any vendor.