Navigate Privacy Regulations
with Confidence
Understand what privacy regulations mean for your mobile app analytics
This guide explains privacy regulation concepts and shows how our technical architecture is designed to minimize compliance complexityβwithout making legal claims.
This is not legal advice
This guide is for educational purposes only. Privacy regulations vary by jurisdiction and change over time. We recommend consulting with your legal team to determine your specific compliance requirements.
What Privacy Regulations Mean for Analytics
Privacy regulations like GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive have transformed how apps can collect and process user data.
π What Counts as Personal Data?
Under privacy regulations, personal data is any information that can identify a person, directly or indirectly. For mobile apps, this includes:
- β Device identifiers (IDFA, IDFV, Android Advertising ID) β uniquely identify a device
- β IP addresses β can be used to identify or locate individuals
- β Persistent user IDs β any identifier that tracks the same person over time
- β Custom properties β can accidentally contain names, emails, or other PII
π¨ What Typically Triggers Consent Requirements?
Consent requirements are generally triggered when analytics solutions:
- β Store data on the device β cookies, localStorage, or persistent identifiers written to disk
- β Track users across sessions β linking behavior from different visits to the same person
- β Collect device identifiers β IDFA, IDFV, fingerprinting techniques
- β Share data with third parties β sending data to advertising networks or other services
βοΈ Processing vs. Retaining Data
There's an important distinction between processing data and retaining data:
Transient Processing
Using data momentarily for a specific purpose (like looking up a country from an IP address) and immediately discarding it. The data is never stored.
Data Retention
Storing data in databases, logs, or files where it persists over time. Retained personal data triggers more stringent compliance requirements.
Where Traditional Analytics Create Compliance Burden
Device Identifiers
Traditional analytics collect IDFA (iOS), IDFV, Android Advertising ID, or device fingerprints.
β These are personal data and typically require consent
Stored IP Addresses
Many analytics platforms store IP addresses in their databases for geolocation and fraud detection.
β IP addresses are personal data when stored
Custom Properties
Open-ended custom properties allow developers to accidentally send emails, names, or other PII.
β Creates liability and data breach risk
Cross-Session Tracking
Linking user behavior across multiple sessions creates detailed user profiles over time.
β This is user profiling under privacy regulations
Cookies & Device Storage
Writing cookies or localStorage entries to track returning users.
β Device storage typically triggers consent requirements
Third-Party Sharing
Many analytics platforms share data with advertising networks or parent companies.
β Creates additional disclosure and consent requirements
How Respectlytics Minimizes Compliance Complexity
Our privacy-by-design architecture avoids the common triggers for consent requirements.
No Device Identifiers Collected
We never collect IDFA, IDFV, Android Advertising ID, or any device fingerprinting data. Our SDKs don't even have the code to access these identifiers.
IP Addresses Never Stored
IP addresses are processed transiently only for country-level geolocation lookup. They are immediately discarded and never stored in our database or logs.
Strict 5-Field Data Allowlist
Our API enforces a strict allowlist of exactly 5 stored data fields. Any request containing additional fields is rejected. You cannot accidentally send emails, names, or any custom PIIβthe API won't accept it.
2-Hour Session Rotation
Session identifiers rotate automatically every 2 hours and reset on app restart. Each session is independentβthere's no way to link sessions to the same user.
RAM-Only SDK Storage
Session IDs exist only in device RAMβthey're never written to disk, localStorage, or cookies. When the app closes, the session ID is gone. No persistent device storage means no device access triggers.
No Third-Party Data Sharing
Your analytics data stays on your dashboard. We don't share data with advertising networks, parent companies, or any third parties. Your data is yours.
Privacy Architecture Checklist
Share this with your legal team for their compliance review.
Should You Ask for User Consent?
This is the question every developer wants a simple answer to. Here's our honest perspective:
What we can tell you:
- β Our architecture avoids the common triggers for consent requirements (device storage, persistent identifiers, cross-session tracking)
- β Many privacy-focused analytics providers using similar approaches operate without requiring consent banners
- β Privacy regulations have core principles, but their implementation and interpretation vary by jurisdiction and evolve over time
What we cannot tell you:
- β We are not lawyers and cannot provide legal advice
- β We cannot guarantee compliance with any specific jurisdiction's requirements
- β Regulations and their interpretation can change
π‘ Our Recommendation
Consult with your legal team to determine what applies to your specific situation. Share this page and our technical documentation with themβour architecture is designed to make their review straightforward. The technical facts are clear; the legal interpretation is for qualified professionals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data does Respectlytics collect?
+
Respectlytics stores exactly 5 data fields:
event_name- The name of the event (required)session_id- Temporary session identifier (anonymized before storage)timestamp- When the event occurredplatform- iOS, Android, Web, or othercountry- 2-letter code (auto-detected from IP if omitted)
Note: IP addresses are extracted from request headers for country-level geolocation lookup onlyβthey are immediately discarded and never stored. Our API rejects any request containing fields not in this list.
Does Respectlytics store IP addresses?
+
No. IP addresses are processed transiently only for country-level geolocation lookup. They are immediately discarded after this lookup and never stored in our database or logs. No personal data is persisted server-side.
Does Respectlytics use cookies or device storage?
+
No. Respectlytics does not use cookies, localStorage, or any persistent device storage. Session identifiers exist only in device RAM and are never written to disk. They automatically rotate every 2 hours or when the app restarts.
Can I accidentally collect personal data?
+
Our architecture makes accidental PII collection technically impossible. The API stores only 5 fields and rejects any request containing user_id, email, device identifiers, or any other personal data. You cannot add custom properties or any data beyond our predefined fields.
Do I need a cookie banner for Respectlytics?
+
Respectlytics does not use cookies or persistent device storage, which are typically what trigger cookie banner requirements. However, privacy regulations vary by jurisdiction and their interpretation evolves over time. We recommend consulting with your legal team to determine what applies to your specific situation.
Do I need to update my privacy policy?
+
Yes, you should disclose that you use analytics. The good news is that our privacy-first approach makes this disclosure simple. You can explain that you use session-based analytics that:
- Does not track individual users across sessions
- Does not store IP addresses
- Does not use cookies or device identifiers
- Uses temporary session IDs that rotate every 2 hours
Is Respectlytics compliant with privacy regulations?
+
Respectlytics is designed to minimize compliance complexity. Our architecture avoids the common triggers for consent requirements: no device identifiers, no persistent storage, no cross-session tracking. IP addresses are processed transiently but never persisted.
However, we are not lawyers and privacy regulations vary by jurisdiction. Consult your legal team to determine your specific compliance requirements.
What if privacy regulations change?
+
Our architecture is built with privacy as the foundation, not as an afterthought. By collecting minimal data, avoiding device storage, and making cross-session tracking technically impossible, we're positioned to adapt to evolving regulations.
Privacy-first design is more future-proof than trying to retrofit privacy onto traditional analytics.
Legal Disclaimer
This guide is provided for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Privacy regulations vary by jurisdiction and change over time. We recommend consulting with your legal team to determine the specific compliance requirements that apply to your situation.
Ready for Privacy-First Analytics?
Analytics that's designed with privacy as the foundation, not an afterthought.
Questions? Contact us