Free whiteglove setup from a ConsentStack Concierge
Help Scout

Help Scout

Customer help and documentation platform used by SaaS companies and e-commerce sites. The Help Scout Beacon embeds a help widget that provides contextual documentation search and live chat support. Tracks conversation metadata for agent performance reporting.

Back to Vendor Library

Overview

Help Scout is a customer support platform that provides help desk, knowledge base, and live chat functionality. The Help Scout Beacon widget embeds a contextual help and messaging interface directly on your website.

What This Script Does

  • Loads the Beacon widget (floating help icon) on configured pages
  • Provides in-page documentation search against your Help Scout knowledge base
  • Enables live chat messaging between visitors and support agents
  • Sets cookies to persist conversation state and identify returning visitors across chat sessions
  • Tracks page URL and referrer data to give agents context about where the visitor is on the site
  • Sends conversation metadata (timestamps, page visited, browser info) to Help Scout servers

Consent & Compliance

  • Consent category: Functional
  • GDPR/ePrivacy: The Beacon widget sets cookies to maintain chat session state. When used strictly for customer-initiated support, it may qualify as a service explicitly requested by the user. However, if the widget proactively collects browsing context or identifies returning visitors, consent is recommended.
  • CCPA: Conversation and visitor data is processed by Help Scout. Requires disclosure.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Conditional. If the Beacon is used solely for user-initiated live chat support, it can be treated as functional and loaded without prior consent. If it tracks page views for agent context or identifies returning visitors via persistent cookies before the user initiates contact, obtain functional consent first.

Is Help Scout GDPR compliant?

Help Scout typically loads functional trackers, which are not strictly necessary for your site to work. Under the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, non-essential cookies and trackers must stay blocked until a visitor gives clear opt-in consent. So Help Scout can be fully GDPR compliant, but only if your site holds its scripts until consent is granted and lets visitors decline just as easily. Compliance depends on how your site loads Help Scout, not on Help Scout itself.

Visit website

Consent Categories

Functional

Also Known As

Help ScoutHelpscoutBeacon widgetlive chat toolcustomer support softwarehelp desk SaaS

Industries

Computers Electronics and TechnologyProgramming and Developer SoftwareBusiness and Consumer ServicesBusiness Services

Tracked Domains (1)

Help Scout's trackers are rarely seen, seen on under 1% of the sites ConsentStack has scanned. Scan your own site to see which of these are firing before consent.

helpscout.netFunctional

helpscout.net is a functional domain operated by Help Scout, used to run site features like chat, video, embeds, and preferences. Seen on under 1% of scanned sites.

Cookies Help Scout Sets (2)

HSSC

Help Scout Beacon support-chat session token. Scopes a single in-page Beacon conversation so the message thread, agent state, and unread indicators persist across navigation within the session.

HSBeaconUserId

Help Scout Beacon visitor identifier across conversations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Vendors

ICF
ICF
ICF is an information consulting and technology company serving government and enterprise sectors. Digital properties may use ICF infrastructure for web hosting, analytics measurement, and content delivery. Scripts typically operate as backend infrastructure without independent behavioral tracking.
NinthDecimal
NinthDecimal
Audience intelligence platform for data-driven media planning. NinthDecimal scripts collect location and behavioral signals to build high-precision audience segments used in programmatic display and mobile advertising campaigns.
Crisp IM
Crisp IM
Crisp is a business messaging platform offering live chat, email, and chatbot tools for customer support. The Crisp chat widget script embeds a conversation interface on websites. Sets cookies to persist chat session state and identify returning visitors.
Trusted Shops
Trusted Shops
Trust and review management platform for e-commerce businesses. Trusted Shops scripts display a trust badge and customer review widget. The post-purchase email sequence collects verified buyer reviews, and the badge widget loads from Trusted Shops' CDN on the checkout and product pages.
GitHub
GitHub
Primarily appears on developer-focused sites via embedded Gist snippets or GitHub Buttons. These embeds load scripts from GitHub's CDN that may set session cookies. GitHub's own analytics infrastructure fires when GitHub-hosted pages are visited but does not typically appear as a third-party tracker on external sites.
Olark
Olark
Live chat and customer messaging platform for small businesses and support teams. The Olark widget embeds a customizable chat box and tracks visitor page history and behavior to provide agents with context. Sets cookies to maintain chat session state.

Manage consent for Help Scout

ConsentStack automatically detects and manages Help Scout trackers so your site stays compliant with global privacy regulations.

Get started free