Gaming

Nintendo sends your Switch eShop data to Google Analytics – here’s how to stop that

Don’t want Google knowing anything else about you? Here’s how to stop tracking on your Switch.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
September 15, 2021

Image: KnowTechie

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Did you know that Nintendo sends data from your Nintendo Switch eShop activities over to Google Analytics? That gives Google more info on your shopping habits for targeted advertising, and presumably some cash for Nintendo.

The thing is, all of this additional data going to third parties is a potential privacy issue. It’s not hard to track analytics data back to individuals, even if it’s anonymized, like in this case. Nintendo’s eShop explicitly says that none of your eShop data is associated with either your Nintendo or Google accounts.

Still, you might not be comfortable with that data being shared, so here’s how to turn it off.

Here’s how to stop Nintendo sending your data to Google Analytics

Open the eShop on your Nintendo Switch

Scroll right to get the cursor over your profile icon and tap A to open the Account Information screen

Move the cursor over your account name, then scroll right until you see the Settings menu. Navigate down to Google Analytics Preferences and choose Change

Move the cursor over Don’t Share then press A after you choose Change

Select OK on the pop-up confirmation, and press A

Press B to go back to the Account Information page. Double-check that Google Analytics Preferences says Don’t Share

Now you can press X or the Home button to go back to the home screen

That’s it, now the Nintendo Switch eShop won’t be feeding your data to Google Analytics. While only eShop data was being sent over, it’s still better to not have any sent at all.

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