Making our web analytics open source with Plausible
The Open Home Foundation is transitioning to Plausible analytics, an open-source solution that prioritizes privacy and transparency. This shift aligns with the foundation’s commitment to anonymized data collection and user control, offering aggregated insights without compromising individual privacy
Open Source Analytics for Transparency and Privacy
The Open Home Foundation is implementing Plausible analytics as a means to align its website operations with its core values of privacy, choice, and sustainability. Unlike traditional analytics tools that track individual users across the web, Plausible provides aggregated, anonymized data that allows the foundation to monitor website performance without collecting personal information.
What Is Tracked and What Is Not
Plausible analytics focuses on tracking aggregate metrics such as page visits, approximate geography, referral sources, and basic engagement data like time on page and scroll depth. It does not collect individual visitor profiles, IP addresses (after brief use for geolocation), or fingerprinting signals such as screen resolution or fonts. This approach ensures that no personally identifiable information is stored or shared, and no persistent identifiers are created across sessions or devices.
User Control and Transparency
The foundation has made its Plausible dashboard publicly accessible, allowing users to view the same aggregated data that the foundation sees. This transparency is a key part of the foundation’s effort to align its website practices with its privacy principles. Users who wish to opt out of being included in the analytics can block Plausible using an ad blocker, as the system does not rely on consent banners or cookie-based tracking.
Hosting and Customization
The foundation is hosting Plausible on its own infrastructure, giving it full control over how the data is managed and processed. Additional customizations include turning off journey tracking features and ensuring that IP addresses used for geolocation are discarded immediately after use. This setup ensures that the data remains fully anonymized and can be retained indefinitely, unlike many other analytics services that are required by regulations such as GDPR to delete personal data after a set period.
Why Analytics Matter for the Foundation
As a non-profit organization focused on advocating for privacy and sustainability in smart homes, the Open Home Foundation relies on analytics to make informed decisions about its website operations. Analytics help the foundation optimize technical performance, allocate resources effectively, and ensure that its projects remain accessible to a broad audience, including both experienced users and newcomers.
Next Steps and Community Feedback
The foundation plans to roll out Plausible analytics over the next few months, with the public dashboard link appearing at the bottom of each website page as it becomes active. The foundation is committed to ensuring that this implementation aligns with its values and encourages user feedback to improve the process further.
Source: Home Assistant. Analysis based on publicly available information; no hands-on testing is claimed.
