So, WordPress it is. I’ve decided to build a new website on this platform that’s been online since 2004, I think. I’ve published websites since 1995 but only built one WordPress website before, so it’ll be a bit of a discovery. While thinking about the layout and content for the site, I am also looking at a few plugins.
The plugins I am checking out are about website security and statistics. I may cover the security side in a future blog post, but for now the statistics are not only of interest to me, but to you as well—because you are here, visiting my page. And just like every webpage or application currently in use, you are being tracked. So, what I install to help me collect user data is definitely relevant to you.
The Burst Statistics plugin
Since I’ve become a little Googallergic, I’ve installed Burst statistics for WordPress. It is a data collection plugin that has some very interesting options that I didn’t realise exist. Firstly, it is self hosted. This means that all the collected data is stored on the server this website is hosted on. It is only available to me, the website owner, and you, the cookie monster.
Do not track
Second, it allows me to honor ‘do not track’ requests. This is a privacy feature built into most browsers that lets you send a request to websites to stop collecting and sharing data. The catch is that websites can choose to honor this request or not. If they don’t, they can just track you like they do everyone else. Although its use has been ‘discouraged’ by advertising companies and their cronies, it might still be worth setting it up in your browser and improving your privacy, even if it’s a little bit. Here is an article on how to set it up on most browsers.
Cookieless tracking
In addition, Burst has a feature called cookieless tracking. Cookies have become increasingly risky, leading to security breaches through data leakage and conflicts with current data regulations and privacy legislation. The industry has been looking at new types of tracking to limit these risks. One of those technologies is cookieless tracking. It aims to (still) collect information about your visit through small pieces of code, just as cookies do. However, these snippets are only available to the visitor and the website owner. So, when cookieless tracking is enabled, no data is shared with other parties such as advertisers, search engines, affiliates and so on. This technology is server-side, which means you don’t have to do anything to make it work. I do.
Cheers!