Privacy-first analytics
Web analytics that respects your visitors.
GhostlyX gives you the traffic data you need without cookies, without storing personal data, and without requiring a consent banner. Set up in under two minutes.
GDPR compliant by default · No cookie banner required · Under 2 kB gzipped
What is privacy-first analytics?
Traditional analytics platforms like Google Analytics track individual visitors using persistent cookies. A cookie is stored in the visitor's browser and read on every subsequent visit to build a behavioural profile over time.
Because cookies store data on a person's device and can identify them across visits, privacy laws in the EU (GDPR), UK (UK GDPR and PECR), and California (CCPA) require explicit informed consent before this tracking can begin. That is why cookie banners exist.
Privacy-first analytics takes a different approach. It counts visits using anonymous, non-persistent signals that are discarded after each request. No personal profiles are built. No consent is needed. You still get accurate, actionable data about your traffic.
Traditional analytics (e.g. GA4)
- ✕ Persistent cookies stored in browser
- ✕ Personal data transferred to third-party servers
- ✕ Cookie consent banner legally required
- ✕ Data used to power advertising networks
- ✕ EU data protection authorities have ruled GA4 non-compliant in multiple countries
Privacy-first analytics (GhostlyX)
- ✓ No cookies. Nothing stored in the browser.
- ✓ Anonymous aggregate data stored on EU servers
- ✓ No consent banner required for analytics
- ✓ Data is yours only. Never shared or sold.
- ✓ GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant by design
How GhostlyX counts visitors without cookies
GhostlyX identifies unique visitors using a daily-rotating hash. No cookie is set. No profile is built. The hash resets every 24 hours and cannot be reversed to identify anyone.
No cookies
GhostlyX sets zero cookies in the visitor's browser, first-party or third-party.
No fingerprinting
Canvas data, font enumeration, WebGL fingerprinting, and all other identification vectors are never used.
No raw IP storage
IP addresses are used transiently to derive country-level geo data and are never written to the database.
Daily-rotating hash
Visitor uniqueness is counted using a one-way hash that resets every 24 hours. It cannot identify the same person across days.
No cross-site tracking
Each site in GhostlyX is isolated. Data from one site is never used to enrich data from another.
GPC and DNT respected
Visitors who set the Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signals in their browser are not tracked at all.
Everything you need to measure. Nothing you don't.
Privacy-first analytics still gives you the data that actually matters for understanding your audience and improving your site.
Compliant with every major privacy regulation
Because GhostlyX collects no personal data and sets no cookies, it satisfies the requirements of all major privacy laws without any configuration or legal review of your analytics setup.
GDPR
EU
No personal data collected. No legal basis required under Article 6. No data processing agreement needed for analytics.
UK GDPR
United Kingdom
The same cookieless architecture satisfies UK GDPR requirements as they stand post-Brexit.
CCPA
California
GhostlyX does not sell or share personal information. GPC signals are honoured automatically at the tracking layer.
PECR
United Kingdom
No cookies are set and no device data is stored, so PECR consent requirements do not apply to GhostlyX analytics.
Frequently asked questions
What is privacy-first analytics?
Privacy-first analytics measures website traffic without cookies, without storing personal data, and without requiring visitor consent. Instead of identifying individual visitors with persistent cookies, it uses anonymous, non-persistent signals to count visits. The result is accurate traffic data with no cookie banner requirement and full compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR.
Do I need a cookie consent banner with privacy-first analytics?
No. Cookie consent banners exist because traditional analytics tools store cookies and process personal data. GhostlyX sets no cookies and collects no personal data, so there is no legal requirement for a consent banner under GDPR, UK GDPR, or PECR for analytics.
How does privacy-first analytics track visitors without cookies?
GhostlyX uses a daily-rotating, one-way hash derived from the visitor's IP address, user-agent string, and site identifier. This hash resets every 24 hours and cannot be reversed to identify an individual. The raw IP address is used transiently to derive this hash and is never written to disk.
Is privacy-first analytics accurate?
Privacy-first analytics is often more accurate than cookie-based tools. With cookies, visitors who decline consent are not tracked, which creates systematic data loss. With GhostlyX, every visit is counted regardless of consent status because no consent is needed. Ad blockers also affect GhostlyX less than GA4 because the script is small and has no association with advertising networks.
Which regulations does privacy-first analytics satisfy?
GhostlyX satisfies GDPR (EU), UK GDPR, CCPA (California), and PECR (UK) by design. Because no personal data is collected and no cookies are set, none of these regulations require you to obtain consent or provide opt-out mechanisms for analytics.
How is GhostlyX different from Google Analytics?
Google Analytics sets cookies, collects personal data, routes visitor data through Google's US servers, and requires a cookie consent banner on most EU-facing websites. GhostlyX does none of these things. It is cookieless, collects no personal data, stores data in the EU, and requires no consent banner.
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