Allan Benamer posted something interesting on his blog the other day. He contends that nonprofits should post their web site stats publicly on their sites, because it will make them more accountable. His contention is that any data that is not made public is de facto private data, and inherently bad.

I challenged that notion on his blog. I just don't see the logical connection between web site traffic and accountability. What do an organization's web site stats NECESSARILY have to do with the good it creates? For some orgs, there is a clear connection between web site visits and part of their mission. For most, though, tracking web site visitors will not tell me how many hungry people they feed, whether that's helping the community, or whether the program is well managed.

All it tells me is how many people came to their site.