Hey everyone,
I’m working on an e-commerce project and I’m wondering about using hashed customer emails as Google Analytics User IDs. I’ve read conflicting info in Google’s docs about this.
Some places say it’s fine to use encrypted or hashed data, but others warn against using any personal info. I’m planning to use the Measurement Protocol and Google Tag Manager to send data.
If I use strong encryption and hashing, would it be okay to use customer emails (in hashed form) as User IDs in Google Analytics? I want to make sure I’m not breaking any rules or putting customer privacy at risk.
Has anyone done this before or know the best practice here? Any advice would be super helpful!
Thanks!
Sam
Hey Sam, interesting question you’ve got there! 
I’m not a Google Analytics expert, but I’ve dabbled with it a bit in my own projects. From what I understand, using hashed emails as identifiers is a bit of a grey area.
Have you considered using randomly generated unique IDs instead? That might be a safer bet in terms of privacy and compliance.
I’m curious though - what’s your main reason for wanting to use hashed emails? Are you trying to link GA data with your customer database or something like that?
Also, have you looked into any alternative analytics platforms that might be more flexible with identifiers? I’ve heard some good things about Matomo, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Anyone else here have experience with this kind of setup? It’d be great to hear some other perspectives!
hey sam, ive used hashed emails before but it’s kinda risky. google might not like it even if its encrypted. maybe try using random IDs instead? that way u dont have to worry about privacy stuff. also, check out segment.com for user tracking - its pretty cool and might solve ur problem. good luck with ur project!
While hashing customer emails provides some level of anonymization, it’s still considered personally identifiable information (PII) by many privacy regulations. Google’s stance on this has been somewhat ambiguous, but they generally advise against using any form of PII, even if hashed.
Instead, consider implementing a first-party cookie solution or generating random unique identifiers for each user session. This approach maintains user privacy while still allowing you to track user behavior across sessions.
If you absolutely need to link analytics data to specific customers, you might want to explore customer data platforms (CDPs) that are designed to handle this type of data integration more securely. These platforms often have built-in compliance features to help navigate the complex landscape of data privacy regulations.
Remember, the safest approach is always to err on the side of caution when it comes to user privacy and data handling.