4. December 2025

The EU Commission’s “Digital Omnibus Package” and web analytics: what marketers need to know now

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What is the Digital Omnibus Regulation? The most important changes for web analytics 1. personal reference depends on the processor 2. statistical cookies can be used without consent Practical effects Conclusion

by Olaf Brandt

The proposal for a Digital Omnibus Regulation further strengthens the advantages of data protection-friendly web analytics solutions over Google Analytics: GDPR-compliant, consent-free data collection, even with cookies, could become possible throughout the EU. However, many questions remain unanswered. Find out what this means for your tracking.

What is the Digital Omnibus Regulation?

In this case, omnibus (from the Latin “for all”) does not refer to a large vehicle, but rather a project that amends several pieces of legislation at once. Officially, the EU Commission wants to help small and medium-sized enterprises and European start-ups in particular to save costs and simplify compliance. Data protection advocates, on the other hand, fear that the level of GDPR protection will be significantly reduced.

It is not yet clear how quickly the regulation will be adopted and what the final version will look like. Experts do not expect it to be adopted until mid-2026 at the earliest. We explain the two most important changes in the draft legislative package on web analytics.

The most important changes for web analytics

1. personal reference depends on the processor

Web analytics data is no longer automatically considered personal data, but only if the processing organization has adequate means to identify the person on the basis of the data collected.

etracker analytics	Google Analytics
Website operators generally do not have the means to identify website visitors. The GDPR therefore no longer applies. This would only be the case if, contrary to the standard, website visitors provide their own identifiers or record the actual order numbers (for stores).	Due to the shared responsibility for processing the data, both the website operator’s and Google’s options must be taken into account. Google Analytics data must therefore continue to be regarded as personal data.

2. statistical cookies can be used without consent

Cookies for creating aggregated information about the use and reach of online services no longer require consent if this is carried out by the person responsible for this online service exclusively for their own purposes.

etracker analytics	Google Analytics
Non-aggregated reports can be easily deactivated. With this setting, even cookie-based web analysis with etracker would not require consent. The screen resolution could also be read without consent in the future. Cookies for measuring marketing campaigns and customer journeys, on the other hand, could remain subject to consent. Cookie-less campaign tracking is also possible without consent after the changes and is not even subject to the GDPR.	Due to the use of the data for Google’s own purposes, the exception to the consent requirement no longer applies. As before, Google Analytics cookies may only be used with prior consent. The same applies to the recording of screen resolution and, in any case, to all data processing.

etracker analytics

Google Analytics

Non-aggregated reports can be easily deactivated. With this setting, even cookie-based web analysis with etracker would not require consent. The screen resolution could also be read without consent in the future. Cookies for measuring marketing campaigns and customer journeys, on the other hand, could remain subject to consent. Cookie-less campaign tracking is also possible without consent after the changes and is not even subject to the GDPR.

Due to the use of the data for Google’s own purposes, the exception to the consent requirement no longer applies. As before, Google Analytics cookies may only be used with prior consent. The same applies to the recording of screen resolution and, in any case, to all data processing.

Practical effects

Fewer consent banners for pure onsite web analytics.
Moving away from platform tools such as Google Analytics and
Trend towards privacy-first solutions such as etracker analytics.

Conclusion

The Digital Omnibus package tightens the situation for the use of Google Analytics:

Even with IP anonymization or Consent Mode, Google Analytics may only be used with express consent. Reason: Data transfer to Google and possible use for own purposes (e.g. profiling, improvement of services) contradict the principle of exclusive processing for the website operator.

The regulation only allows consent-free analytics if data is processed exclusively for statistical purposes and under the control of the operator. Companies that use etracker analytics benefit even more from the Digital Omnibus – they can even use statistical cookies for on-site analyses without consent and in many cases completely dispense with consent dialogs.

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