Introduction
Microsoft Clarity is a free analytics tool that provides website owners with valuable insights into user behavior. Some of the key features of Microsoft Clarity include heatmaps, session recording, and user click analysis, all designed to highlight important attributes that define its effectiveness and benefits. Designed for simplicity and efficiency, it helps track how users interact with a website through features such as heatmaps, session recordings, and user click analysis. But with privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in full force across the EU and EEA, Clarity requires explicit user consent before it can begin tracking.
Clarity enables website owners to visualize how visitors interact with their site—where they click, how far they scroll, and what may be causing friction in the user journey. Session recording is one of the main features, capturing and analyzing user interactions such as mouse movements, clicks, and navigation paths to provide a detailed view of user behavior. These qualitative insights are crucial for optimizing user experience. However, because Clarity processes data like user interactions, IP addresses, and session data, managing consent properly is not optional—it’s mandatory.
The Clarity Consent API plays a vital role in ensuring that no tracking begins until valid consent is given. This allows Clarity to support GDPR compliance from the start and puts the control firmly in the hands of the user. Clarity helps website owners understand user behaviour by providing visual insights, such as heatmaps and session recordings, to gain a comprehensive view of how users navigate and engage with their site.
Understanding GDPR and Consent
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that any tracking or processing of personal data be based on a legal basis—most often, explicit user consent. This means that website owners cannot rely on implied consent or pre-checked boxes when tracking user behavior with tools like Clarity. GDPR and similar laws apply in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA), UK, and Switzerland, making it essential to comply with these regulations in these regions.
Under GDPR, personal data can include IP addresses, location data, user IDs, and behavioral data. Since Microsoft Clarity collects session recordings, click maps, and navigation patterns, using it without user approval would violate data protection laws. That’s why Clarity has been built with consent-aware features that help businesses stay compliant.
To manage this effectively, many website owners rely on a Consent Management Platform (CMP). CMPs are designed to collect, store, and communicate user consents—helping websites obtain, record, and respect user preferences across sessions. User consents must be obtained and communicated to Clarity before any tracking occurs. Consent must be obtained on user visits before any data collection or tracking begins.
Clarity Consent API: A Gateway to Compliance
Microsoft Clarity Consent is managed through the Microsoft Clarity Consent API, also referred to as Clarity’s Consent API, which is a manual integration tool. Unlike automated consent solutions, Clarity’s Consent API requires website owners to explicitly call the API to manage user consent. The website communicates consent to Clarity by explicitly informing Clarity when tracking can begin, ensuring that tracking features are only enabled after proper consent is received.
Key functions of the Clarity Consent API:
- Delay tracking until valid consent is given
- Support integration with Google Consent Mode, ensuring compatibility with existing setups
- Prevent unauthorized data collection
- Allow users to withdraw consent at any time, stopping tracking immediately
- Disable tracking if a user declines or withdraws consent, ensuring no data is collected and cookies are cleared
This API helps ensure transparency and gives users meaningful control over their data—two essential principles under GDPR. If a user declines consent, Microsoft Clarity’s tracking features will not activate, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations.
Implementing Clarity on Your Website
Implementing Microsoft Clarity is a straightforward process:
- Create a Clarity account and set up a Clarity project
- Install the Clarity tracking code on your website
- Use a CMP to manage consent before Clarity is triggered
- Ensure the Clarity API and Consent API are integrated properly to manage Clarity cookies and enable tracking only after user consent
Proper Clarity integration is essential to ensure compliance, avoid common pitfalls, and streamline the setup process.
For non-technical teams, tools like Google Tag Manager make implementation easier. You can add the Clarity script and configure it to load only after consent is received, ensuring that Clarity cookies are managed in accordance with user preferences.
Clarity also supports Google Analytics integration, allowing website owners to combine quantitative and qualitative insights from both tools. This integration provides a dual-layered view that helps identify issues, test solutions, and make data-driven decisions to enhance the customer experience.
Clarity Dashboard and Visual Insights
The Clarity dashboard is where the magic happens. From session recordings to heatmaps and funnel tracking, it provides a visual interface that allows you to see exactly how visitors interact with your content. The dashboard also helps you identify and filter JavaScript errors, making it easier to debug and optimize your website.
Clarity helps answer questions like:
- Where do users click most frequently?
- How can you analyze user clicks to identify dead clicks or unresponsive areas?
- Which pages cause users to exit?
- How do different devices affect user behavior?
These insights are invaluable for improving user flows, increasing conversions, and reducing bounce rates. You can filter data by operating system, browser, session duration, and even by JavaScript errors, making it easier to test hypotheses and optimize based on real behaviors—not guesses.
What makes Clarity stand out is its user-friendly interface and no-cost model. Even smaller businesses and startups can access valuable insights without a premium analytics budget.
Clarity Users and Data Handling
Once you’re up and running, you’ll have access to a full range of Clarity user controls. From your Clarity account, you can:
- Manage who can access your projects
- Create and edit custom tags to categorize users based on their interactions
- Export Clarity data, including session and heatmap data, for further analysis
- Access and review consent logs
Clarity data is accessible to web administrators for a defined retention period, allowing you to retrieve and utilize this data to analyze website performance within that timeframe.
Microsoft Ireland Operations acts as the data controller for Clarity in Europe, ensuring that all personal data collected is handled in accordance with GDPR. This means Clarity users can confidently use the platform while maintaining regulatory compliance.
You can also segment visitors based on actions, devices, custom tags, or consent status to tailor your insights and identify user trends.
Clarity Account and Project Management
Each Clarity account can support multiple projects, making it ideal for agencies, large companies, or anyone managing several websites.
Clarity’s project management features include:
- Separate tracking codes for each project
- Granular access controls for team members
- Role-based permissions for collaborators
- Easy linking of Google Analytics segments
These tools foster collaboration and ensure that privacy responsibilities are distributed across your team while retaining control over user data.
The Role of Consent Management Platforms (CMPs)
A Consent Management Platform is essential for any website operating in GDPR jurisdictions. CMPs present cookie banners, collect valid explicit user consent, and store consent logs in case of audits. They also seamlessly block scripts and cookies until consent is given.
Here’s how a CMP works with Microsoft Clarity:
- Visitor arrives on the site, and the CMP displays a customizable cookie consent banner
- If the user gives explicit consent, the CMP passes that signal to the Clarity Consent API
- Only then does Clarity tracking begin, ensuring compliance from the moment tracking starts
Many CMPs now integrate with Google Consent Mode and Microsoft UET Consent Mode, keeping your analytics and marketing stack both synchronized and compliant.
Pandectes GDPR Compliance Shopify App
For Shopify merchants, Pandectes GDPR Compliance offers a tailored solution that acts as both a CMP and a bridge to analytics tools:
- It displays fully customizable cookie banners, supports Google Consent Mode v2, Microsoft UET Mode, and IAB TCF v2.2, and automatically blocks scripts like Clarity until consent is granted.
- Once a visitor consents, Pandectes triggers both Clarity’s Consent API and consent signals for tags in Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Microsoft UET, pixels, and more.
- It includes features like auto-script blocking, AI cookie scanning, consent logs, geolocation targeting, and multi-language support, all optimized for Shopify themes and headless setups.
- With 154,000+ installs, 2,200+ five-star reviews, and recognized as “Best Value in GDPR Compliance” by Capterra, Pandectes delivers both reliability and high merchant satisfaction.
Pandectes: A Cohesive Consent Strategy
Component | Role |
|---|---|
Pandectes CMP | Displays cookie consent banner, auto-blocks tracking scripts, logs consent |
Clarity Consent API | Activated only after explicit user consent |
Google Consent Mode / UET Mode | Synced via Pandectes for full stack compliance |
Google Tag Manager Integration | Delivers Clarity tracking code post-consent, alongside analytics and pixel tags |
This setup ensures:
- No Clarity tracking code runs before consent
- All scripts remain blocked until user permission is granted
- Transparent, documented consent logs for compliance and audit
- A consistent user experience and elevated levels of user trust
Clarity Tracking and Consent Communication
Microsoft Clarity does not begin tracking users until explicit consent is obtained. This is crucial for:
- Upholding user privacy
- Maintaining GDPR compliance
- Building user trust
Once consent is granted, the Clarity script begins recording sessions and communicating behavior data in real-time. If the user withdraws consent, the script stops tracking and discards any session data that was collected in violation of their preferences.
This level of transparency not only protects your organization legally but also fosters a culture of ethical data collection. By communicating clearly and respecting consent choices, you demonstrate a commitment to privacy-first practices.
Conclusion
Microsoft Clarity offers powerful visual tools that help website owners understand user behavior, optimize their websites, and make data-driven decisions. But these benefits can only be unlocked legally and ethically when explicit user consent is obtained.
The Clarity Consent API, Google Tag Manager integration, and compatibility with Consent Management Platforms ensure that tracking is transparent, compliant, and respectful of user privacy.
For businesses in 2025, where data privacy is more important than ever, Microsoft Clarity presents a unique opportunity: gain valuable insights into how users interact with your website, without compromising their trust.
