If you run a dental practice, chances are your website has Google Analytics installed. It’s the industry standard, after all. But here’s something that might keep you up at night: Google Analytics may be putting your practice at risk of HIPAA violations.
The Hidden Problem with Google Analytics
Every time someone visits your dental website, Google Analytics captures their IP address. That IP address is sent to Google’s servers, where it’s stored and processed alongside data from millions of other websites.
Here’s the issue: IP addresses are considered Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA when combined with health-related context.
When someone visits your dental practice’s website, they’re likely:
- Looking for dental services
- Researching a specific procedure
- Checking your hours before an appointment
- Reading about symptoms or treatments
That visit to your website, combined with their IP address, creates a connection between an individual and healthcare services. Under HIPAA, that’s PHI.
What HIPAA Says About This
The HIPAA Privacy Rule defines PHI as any information that:
- Relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health of an individual
- Can be used to identify that individual
An IP address visiting a dental practice website meets both criteria:
- The visit relates to dental health (physical health)
- The IP address can identify the individual (especially with Google’s vast data network)
The Risk to Your Practice
HIPAA violations aren’t cheap. Penalties range from:
- $100 to $50,000 per violation for unknowing violations
- Up to $1.5 million per year for willful neglect
But the real cost is reputation. A HIPAA breach can destroy the trust you’ve built with your patients over years.
Why Traditional Analytics Don’t Work for Healthcare
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other traditional analytics tools were built for advertising, not privacy. They’re designed to:
- Track users across the web
- Build advertising profiles
- Share data with third parties
None of that is compatible with HIPAA compliance.
How Zero Trust Analytics Is Different
We built Zero Trust Analytics from the ground up with privacy as the foundation, not an afterthought.
No IP Address Storage
We never store raw IP addresses. Period. Instead, we use a cryptographic hash that:
- Creates an anonymous identifier
- Rotates daily (so visitors can’t be tracked over time)
- Cannot be reversed to reveal the original IP
The IP address is used once to generate the hash, then immediately discarded. It never touches our database.
No Cookies
Traditional analytics rely on cookies to track users. We don’t use cookies at all. This means:
- No cookie consent banners cluttering your website
- No tracking users across sessions
- No data that could identify returning patients
No Third-Party Data Sharing
Your analytics data stays your analytics data. We don’t:
- Sell data to advertisers
- Share data with parent companies
- Use your data to build profiles
HIPAA-Compatible by Design
Because we never collect or store PHI, there’s nothing to breach. This is the “zero trust” principle: we can’t leak data we never had.
What You Still Get
Privacy doesn’t mean giving up insights. With Zero Trust Analytics, you still see:
- Visitor counts: How many people visit your site
- Top pages: Which services people are interested in
- Traffic sources: Where your visitors come from
- Device breakdown: Desktop vs. mobile usage
- Geographic regions: General location (country/state level)
You get the insights you need to market your practice effectively, without the HIPAA liability.
Making the Switch
Switching to Zero Trust Analytics takes about 5 minutes:
- Sign up for an account
- Add your dental practice website
- Copy one line of code to your site
- Remove Google Analytics
That’s it. You’ll start seeing privacy-first analytics immediately.
The Bottom Line
Your patients trust you with their health. They shouldn’t have to worry that visiting your website exposes their data to the largest advertising company in the world.
Zero Trust Analytics gives you the website insights you need while respecting your patients’ privacy and keeping your practice HIPAA-compliant.
Because your patients’ privacy isn’t a feature. It’s a requirement.
Ready to make your dental practice website HIPAA-compliant? Start your free 14-day trial - no credit card required.