Microsoft Clarity is a free session-replay, heatmap and behavior-analytics tool that website operators embed on their own sites; it is operated by Microsoft Corporation, a public company (NASDAQ: MSFT). Its own FAQ and data-collection docs state that Clarity captures interaction, diagnostic, page and custom events plus DOM/playback data for session replay, masks privacy-sensitive content by default while leaving operators in control of what is blocked, relies primarily on first-party cookies, and states outright that Clarity does not sell data, while also disclosing IP-based geolocation and a Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out mechanism for advertising-related third-party cookies. Microsoft and Clarity have been named as defendants in multiple state wiretapping-statute class actions (e.g., Pennsylvania) alleging Clarity's session-replay code records site visitors' interactions without adequate consent; these are unresolved allegations, not judgments. No breach or regulator order specific to Clarity was found in this research.
TIMELINE
NO ENTRIES ON FILE YET.
ULTIMATE PARENT
TOOLS WE RECOMMEND
PLUS
RECEIPTS
6 ON FILE
COLLECTION
Microsoft Clarity's own data-collection documentation itemizes the payload it captures after installation: analytics events (click, scroll, mouse move, window resize, selection, input, diagnostic and custom events) plus a full DOM/playback record (node positions, layout, attributes and content) used to reconstruct site sessions, stating that content in privacy-sensitive fields is masked rather than showing actual text.
Microsoft Clarity's FAQ states that by default Clarity suppresses the client's entire content and that the website admin controls what content is sent to Clarity, with owners expected to use dashboard settings to block confidential content; the same FAQ states recorded session data is retained for the webmaster's own consumption for up to 30 days from the time of recording.
SEC EDGAR's company-filings listing confirms Microsoft Corporation, operator of Clarity, is a public filer (CIK 0000789019) that files annual 10-K reports and is headquartered at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, incorporated in Washington.
Microsoft Clarity's FAQ states directly that Clarity does not sell data and points to the Microsoft Privacy Statement for further detail; the same FAQ describes an opt-out mechanism built on the Digital Advertising Alliance framework that lets individuals opt out of Clarity telemetry via Microsoft's own opt-out tool.
A ClassAction.org newswire item reports a September 2022 class action, Popa v. PSP Group, LLC et al. (filed under the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act), naming Microsoft Corporation and Pet Supplies Plus as defendants and alleging unlawful, non-consensual tracking of website visitors' electronic communications; this is among several similar suits against sites embedding Microsoft's Clarity session-replay code, and is an unresolved allegation rather than a judgment or settlement.
Microsoft Clarity's FAQ states its core session-recording and heatmap functionality relies on first-party cookies unaffected by Chromium's third-party-cookie deprecation, while also disclosing that Clarity uses IP address-based geolocation to determine user location and that any third-party cookies it does use are for operational purposes such as advertising.