Google Analytics could be about to go offline in Norway, after that country’s Data Protection Bureau declared that the service fails to comply with a recent EU directive regarding the collection of IP addresses.

The bureau announced its findings following an investigation into the way in which Norway’s State Educational Loan Fund and Tax Administration authority use the Google Analytics service. Apparently, the fact that the two agencies have no control over how Google uses information gathered by their users is in contravention of the EU directive.

Because the data gathered by Google Analytics (including IP addresses and visitor behavior) can be traced back to individuals, the service falls foul of Norwegian and European privacy laws, which state that such information can only be used for statistical purposes and must be anonymized.

Norway’s Data Protection Bureau claims that the State Educational Loan Fund and the Tax Administration have no control over how their customers’ IP addresses are used, because the terms and conditions of Google Analytics prevent this. Google, it says, could potentially use the information its Analytics tool gathers for purposes other than measuring website traffic.

Google has issued an almost immediate response to the website Techcrunch, insisting that it has done nothing wrong and that its Analytics service complies with European and Norwegian laws:

“Google Analytics fully complies with Norwegian and European data protection laws. Every day many Norwegian companies use Google Analytics to improve their online presence and make their websites better for the users.

“Google Analytics is designed to keep information safe. Webmasters using Google Analytics are in complete control over which data is sent to the service and how Google uses, and can use, the information received from their sites.

“We have offered to meet the Norwegian Data Protection Agency several times to answer to any questions on Google Analytics and we remain willing to do so.”

That statement may not be enough to save Google Analytic’s bacon however, as the Norwegian Data Protection Bureau is insisting that two demands are met – firstly, that all data and IP addresses collected are anonymized, and secondly, that it clarifies its terms and conditions and stops sharing analytics data with other services.

But if previous history is anything to go by, Google are unlikely to comply with those demands without a fight, meaning that there could well be another protracted legal battle on the horizon.