The "imprint" doesn't necessarily need to show your private address though, only an address of "someone responsible for the contents of these website."
Do note that "someone responsible" can be a legal entity! Not only cooperations but also a "Verein" or a similar legal construct.
Also, note that you do not need to list your address, only a "Anschrift", which often times is the same thing as an address, but really just means "If I write this on a letter it has to be delivered to you." So a postal box for example works just fine.
If you are a startup you will have all of these things anyways, I don't know a single startup that isn't also a legal entity. Indie makers is a bit more tricky, but as mentioned before it is pretty easy to get around this requirement via a "Verein" or something similar.
As for free tools not being usable, I honestly don't think it is that big a problem. Google Analytics doesn't work for you? There are other offers out there. Or you could selfhost matomo. Or if you want then you can just go ahead and run an awk script on your Webserver log.
As for not finding information and on the sites of famous European indie makers, I am going to let you on on a secret. The "Impressum" was always intended so that consumers could have a look at who they are dealing with over the internet.
To this day it is still handled like that. If you aren't selling anything or doing anything else that "a classic" company would do it is highly unlikely anyone is going to care whether or not you have an Impressum.
Sure. You can set up an address somewhere. Rent it. Set up some kind of mail forwarding or go there regularely to get it.
Sure. You can put in a day of work to self host or write your own analytics solution.
But this already puts you at a disadvantage. Because of the time you have to invest and the sub par solutions. Google Analytics is simply better than the alternatives.
And it does not end here. Every website I know uses a multitude of international tools. All of them connecting the visitor to some international servers which provide the service. Cutting European indie makers off from all these tools will put them at a huge disadvantage.
> Sure. You can put in a day of work to self host or write your own analytics solution.
> But this already puts you at a disadvantage. Because of the time you have to invest and the sub par solutions. Google Analytics is simply better than the alternatives.
I am entirely in favour of requiring SaaS creators to put in a day of work if they want to analyze their users' information without violating their privacy, and forbidding them from saying "fuck it I can't be bothered, just send everything to Google, it's easier".
If being able to see our aggregate sexual orientations from Facebook Analytics is truly such a huge competitive advantage, by all means, explain in your sign-up page why it's in your customer's best interest to allow those tracking pixel and get their explicit consent.
Alright, I'll drop the sarcasm and state my claim outright: if you're creating an actually valuable and worthwhile product, using privacy-respectful tools and practices isn't going to kill your dreams. Not even close.
If you're creating another useless listicle page or shady dating app or would-be "viral" attention black hole, such that its business model fails if you can't track and profile hapless visitors or sell their data, then I'm glad you won't be able to start such a business in my country, and if you're abroad I hope you geoblock my country as well.
If an European indie want to access the European market they got to follow European law.
This argument of being at an disadvantage seems similar to that of app developer using the iphone market and paying a 30% tax to apple. That is a huge disadvantage compared to side loading the app on android which has 0% tax. The only problem of using side loading is that you have to leave the apple market space, or hope that places like EU put in laws that changes the regulations for the EU market space for phones. In that case it will be up to apple to decide how much access to the market space is worth.
How does it happen that in such discussions there is always at least one person who ends up equating everything they don't like to socialism? Are "socialism" and "communism" the only words they know? Clearly, they don't know very well the meaning of these words.
And regarding the "EU won't survive past 20XY". I've heard this argument almost non-stop from anti-EU politicians since 2007. Financial crisis, Greek debt crisis, Brexit, now coronavirus - every bad event is a good one to predict the collapse of the EU.
I didn't mention communism nor socialism (except in the name USSR).
I compare the EU to the USSR because they're both top down bureaucracies that think they knows best and can erase nations under their rule. It works for a time but when it inevitably collapses, wars are almost a certainty.
You hear about the Euro and the UE collapse since 2007 because the process started back then.
Eastern countries don't share the liberal ideology of the west. They're in as long as money flows. Once it stops why would they let the west tell them how to think?
Then there are the southern countries (PIGS + France) that are bankrupt, the north don't want to pay. What do you think will happen when Covid can't be used to throw money at the problem any more?
Lastly look at the average European banks leverage. They won't survive another 2008.
FWIW I have skin in the game: I'm French, living in France.
Do note that "someone responsible" can be a legal entity! Not only cooperations but also a "Verein" or a similar legal construct.
Also, note that you do not need to list your address, only a "Anschrift", which often times is the same thing as an address, but really just means "If I write this on a letter it has to be delivered to you." So a postal box for example works just fine.
If you are a startup you will have all of these things anyways, I don't know a single startup that isn't also a legal entity. Indie makers is a bit more tricky, but as mentioned before it is pretty easy to get around this requirement via a "Verein" or something similar.
As for free tools not being usable, I honestly don't think it is that big a problem. Google Analytics doesn't work for you? There are other offers out there. Or you could selfhost matomo. Or if you want then you can just go ahead and run an awk script on your Webserver log.
As for not finding information and on the sites of famous European indie makers, I am going to let you on on a secret. The "Impressum" was always intended so that consumers could have a look at who they are dealing with over the internet.
To this day it is still handled like that. If you aren't selling anything or doing anything else that "a classic" company would do it is highly unlikely anyone is going to care whether or not you have an Impressum.