As of today, we have uninstalled Google Analytics from all LSF and SatNOGS websites.
To provide you with some insight, when the Google Analytics app was installed, it was done so, as back then, we were not experienced enough with the way to handle marketing-related things and mistakenly thought that it would be of some use to the websites.
The reality, though, was different, as we never utilised the app and its metrics (our Comms and Marketing strategy steps away from all Google-conforming, marketing-trendy rules, and this is something that you can witness for yourselves. And if you have any worries or questions about this, feel free to ask). After installing the app, as time passed, we got completely distracted with all the things we were working on and forgot the app. The account went dormant. Every once in a while, someone would mention that we needed to uninstall the Google Analytics app, but soon the team would focus on meeting deadlines and rushing to the next phase of a project. This is not to say that installing Google Analytics was not a mistake on our part, especially when it goes against everything we believe in and stand for.
For this, we would like to apologise deeply and truly, firstly for installing it and secondly for not having taken it off our sites earlier. We thank the Community for pointing out our mistake and oversight, and this was clearly one. We are grateful that you have pointed out our shortcomings, and we appreciate your devotion. Your opinion as a community is respected, taken seriously into consideration, and we always want to hear from you.
Going forward, we would like to inform the Community that after we uninstalled the Google Analytics app, we have embarked on an attempt to uninstall all third-party applications, such as Gravatar and Mapbox too. Our websites will be assessed, and all third-party applications will be taken off in the coming days.
Once again, we wholeheartedly apologise for any distress or inconvenience we might have caused you with this mistake.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need any clarifications.