Introduction
Use Microsoft Clarity session recording and heatmaps with GDPR consent controls: block before opt-in, mask sensitive data, and disclose.
What it means
Microsoft Clarity captures session replays, heatmaps, and user interaction data — requiring consent before activation under GDPR for non-essential measurement.
Block Clarity until analytics or functional consent is granted. Configure masking for sensitive content.
Disclose Clarity as a processor in your privacy policy and list related cookies in your cookie declaration.
Why it matters
Regulators, customers, and automated scanners increasingly treat published policies and live site behavior as one system. Gaps between what you say and what your site does create enforcement and commercial risk.
Fixing issues early is cheaper than retrofitting consent, tag managers, and legal pages after a complaint or failed enterprise security review.
Common mistakes
- Loading analytics tags before consent defaults are set in the page head.
- Assuming Consent Mode alone satisfies GDPR without tag blocking.
- Not verifying analytics behavior after GTM container publishes or plugin updates.
- Treating analytics cookies as strictly necessary without meeting narrow exemption criteria.
- Skipping post-reject verification — only testing the Accept flow.
Practical checklist
- Audit all analytics entry points across theme, plugins, GTM, and hardcoded snippets.
- Place consent defaults and blocking guard before any analytics script loads.
- Map analytics consent category to analytics_storage in Consent Mode v2.
- Verify zero analytics requests fire before consent in a private browser window.
- Test Reject path across homepage and two internal pages.
- Document the analytics provider, purpose, retention, and opt-out in your cookie policy.
- Re-scan after every GTM publish or analytics configuration change.
How GDPRChecker helps
GDPRChecker scanner detects pre-consent analytics requests on first visit, catching the most common analytics compliance failure before external auditors do.
GDPRChecker runtime protection blocks analytics scripts until the visitor grants consent in the matching category, then releases them with correct Consent Mode v2 signalling.