Does Microsoft Clarity require cookie consent?

Yes, consent is required. Clarity captures behavioral data including mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, and rage clicks for session replays. It sets non-essential cookies like _clck and _clsk for visitor identification. Under GDPR, this extensive behavioral data collection for analytics requires explicit opt-in consent.

What visitor data does Microsoft Clarity capture?

Clarity records every interaction on the page: mouse movements, clicks, scroll positions, rage clicks, dead clicks, and form interactions. It captures DOM changes to reconstruct sessions as video replays. The _clck and _clsk cookies identify visitors and group page views into sessions. Sensitive input fields are excluded by default.

How does ConsentStack manage Microsoft Clarity?

ConsentStack detects Clarity's session recording scripts and categorizes them under analytics. Before consent is granted, ConsentStack blocks Clarity from loading, setting cookies, or capturing behavioral data. Once analytics consent is provided, Clarity activates to record sessions for heatmap and replay analysis.

What tracker domains does Microsoft Clarity use?

ConsentStack has catalogued tracker domains for Microsoft Clarity including clarity.ms and www.clarity.ms. These are the network destinations Microsoft Clarity's scripts contact, which a consent platform blocks until a visitor agrees.

Is Microsoft Clarity GDPR compliant? (clarity.ms)

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Is Microsoft Clarity GDPR compliant?

Microsoft Clarity typically loads analytics 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 Microsoft Clarity 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 Microsoft Clarity, not on Microsoft Clarity itself.

Consent required: Yes, block it until the visitor opts in
Consent category: analytics
Tracker domains: 2 catalogued, including clarity.ms and www.clarity.ms

Overview

Microsoft Clarity is a free behavioral analytics tool that provides session recordings, heatmaps, and scroll maps. It helps website owners understand how users interact with their pages by visually replaying user sessions.

What This Script Does

The Clarity script captures every user interaction on the page: mouse movements, clicks, scroll positions, rage clicks, dead clicks, and form interactions. It records DOM state changes to reconstruct sessions as video-like replays in the Clarity dashboard. The script sets cookies (_clck, _clsk) and uses sessionStorage to identify visitors and group page views into sessions. All captured data is transmitted to Microsoft's servers. Clarity states it does not capture sensitive input field content by default and does not transmit PII.

Consent & Compliance

Microsoft Clarity falls under the analytics consent category. Session replay captures detailed behavioral data that constitutes personal data under GDPR (IP addresses logged, precise interaction patterns recorded). Under GDPR/ePrivacy, Clarity requires explicit opt-in consent because it sets non-essential cookies and processes behavioral data beyond what is strictly necessary for the website to function. While Clarity is free, Microsoft may use aggregated data to improve its products, adding a secondary processing purpose.