When people hear "cookie-free analytics," they assume they're giving something up. Actually, the opposite is often true: you get more accurate data because you're not losing the 25–40% of users who reject your cookie banner.
What cookies actually did for analytics
Traditional analytics used cookies to identify returning visitors — a unique ID stored on the device. The problem: this requires explicit consent under GDPR/PECR, and most users either reject consent banners or use browsers (Safari, Firefox) that aggressively expire cookies.
How cookie-free identification works
When a visit arrives, the server computes a hash from a salted version of the IP address, the User-Agent string, and a daily-rotating salt. The result is a temporary, anonymised identifier that:
- Cannot be reversed to find the original IP
- Resets every 24 hours (not cross-session tracking)
- Never leaves the server (never stored on the visitor's device)
Is it less accurate?
For most use cases, no. You're trading long-term user identity (rarely needed) for broader coverage (no banner rejections) and simpler compliance (no consent needed). Most analytics questions are answered equally well either way.
Why GDPR authorities approve it
Multiple European data protection authorities (including France's CNIL) have explicitly approved cookie-free, IP-hashing analytics as not requiring consent, provided: no cross-site tracking, IP never stored in identifiable form, and daily hash rotation. AI Infos Web Statistics meets all three conditions by design.