Do Cookie-Free Analytics Really Need Cookie Banners?

This article investigates whether so-called "privacy-aware analytics" tools, claiming to perform website analytics without cookies, truly avoid the need for cookie banners. Delving into EU privacy regulations, particularly the ePrivacy Directive, the author finds that even 'cookie-free' analytics might require consent due to accessing information on user devices (like the User-Agent), thus necessitating cookie banners. The author concludes that current technology struggles to completely circumvent EU data access requirements.