Analytics
Is PostHog GDPR compliant?
PostHog may only run after the visitor has agreed. It is not strictly necessary for the website to work, so loading it on arrival, before any choice, is the single most common way sites get this wrong.
- Category
- Analytics
- Needs consent
- Yes
- Leaves the EEA
- Yes
- Can be self-hosted
- Yes
- Recognised by
- posthog.com
- Typical cookies
- ph_*
What does PostHog do?
Product analytics with session replay and feature flags, open source and self-hostable. The hosted version stores a persistent identifier and offers EU hosting; either way consent is needed by default.
Does PostHog need consent?
Yes. PostHog is Analytics, which is never strictly necessary for a website to function. Under ePrivacy Article 5(3), and its national transpositions, storing or reading anything on the device for that purpose requires consent first, and that consent has to be as easy to refuse as it is to give.
ePrivacy Art. 5(3) · TDDDG § 25 (DE) · TKG 2021 § 165(3) (AT) · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)
Does PostHog send data outside the EEA?
Yes. PostHog processes data outside the European Economic Area, so you need a transfer mechanism under Chapter V and you have to say so in your privacy policy. In practice this means standard contractual clauses, or a provider certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
What can I use instead of PostHog?
| Needs consent | Leaves the EEA | Can be self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PostHog | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Umami | No | No | Yes |
| Matomo Cloud | Yes | No | Yes |
How do we detect PostHog?
We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. PostHog is recognised by requests to posthog.com, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.
Check your websiteThis describes the service as it is normally deployed. Your own configuration decides what actually happens, which is what a scan of your site shows. Not legal advice.