Purpose of analytics
ConsumerWise uses analytics as a site-improvement and diagnostic tool. The questions are practical, Which guides are actually being read? Which pages are rarely found? Where do visitors enter the site? Which routes do they follow next? Where do they leave? Do browser or device patterns suggest that a layout is failing for part of the audience?
Those answers help prioritise content, improve navigation and spot technical problems. They are not used to decide anything about an individual visitor.
Current implementation
The site uses a self-hosted Matomo installation at analytics.jackwhittle.co.uk, site ID 6. ConsumerWise does not load the tracker until the visitor has allowed analytics. The configuration records page views and enables Matomo link tracking for outbound/download interactions.
Before a page view is recorded, ConsumerWise supplies Matomo with the page URL without its query string or fragment. This minimises the risk of a site-search phrase or other query-string value becoming part of the analytics page URL.
What the reports can show
- page views and visits;
- popular and less-used pages;
- entry and exit pages;
- the sequence of pages within a visit, used to understand navigation journeys;
- referring sites or pages where available;
- general browser, operating-system, device and screen information used for compatibility diagnostics;
- outbound links and file-download interactions where Matomo recognises them;
- aggregate visit metrics such as visit duration and bounce/exit behaviour.
What ConsumerWise does not use Matomo for
- advertising or retargeting;
- selling audience data;
- cross-site behavioural profiling;
- demographic targeting;
- assigning a logged-in ConsumerWise User ID;
- recording the text typed into tools, templates or general forms;
- session replay, screen recording or heatmaps in the current setup;
- automated decisions about visitors.
Privacy controls
Analytics is optional in the current implementation. Rejecting analytics prevents ConsumerWise from intentionally loading Matomo. The choice can be changed at any time through Cookie settings. The full data categories, lawful bases, cookie information and retention criteria are set out in the Privacy policy and Cookie policy.
How analytics should be interpreted
Analytics is evidence about site use, not a referendum on the importance of a legal right. A low-traffic page may cover a rare but serious problem. A high-traffic page may reflect a temporary news event or strong search-engine ranking. ConsumerWise uses analytics to inform editorial priorities, not to decide that unpopular rights no longer matter.
Change control
Any future addition such as event tracking, form analytics, user IDs, heatmaps, advertising pixels or another analytics provider would be a material change. It should not be enabled simply because Matomo supports it; the privacy purpose, necessity, consent/storage rules and public documentation should be reviewed first.