Collecting post codes / zip codes in Google Analytics - Terms of Service

[A_Q]

Hi Mozzers,

Just reading up on Google Analytic's Terms of Service and wondering if collecting post codes / zip codes (from a website's 'Find my nearest...' tool) adhere's to the following:

"You will not (and will not allow any third party to) use the Service to track, collect or upload any data that personally identifies an individual (such as a name, email address or billing information), or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google."

What do you think?

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi,

As long as you won't send this information to Google Analytics you'll be fine. It can be on the page and you can track it with another tool but as this information can be linked to a specific individual you're probably not allowed to save this. Usually what you could do is save this data hashed in Google Analytics and then unhash it again if you would like to use it. That will be allowed, Google just doesn't want data in it's databases that can be linked to a user as they're not responsible for the data privacy of it.

Martijn.

[DmitriiK]

Howdy.

I might be very much mistaken, but as far as I understand, when you use "find my nearest" tool you do not "track, collect or upload any data that...", since everything is happening on a client's side of interaction. If you are, indeed, tempering with data when users are doing something on your website (eg.: if you use sniffers or other recording techniques), then yes, that would be against their policy.