Microsoft Clarity on your website.
Does it record before anyone is asked?

What Clarity does before the choice

Consent mode governs cookies, not loading. Whether Clarity records before the choice still depends on how it is built in.

1. 01

   Script loads with the page

   The Clarity code loads www.clarity.ms/tag/… from the header. Without a banner connection it runs with every page and sends to …clarity.ms/collect.

   Art. 5(3) Directive 2002/58/EC

2. 02

   Consent mode without a signal

   According to Microsoft, in consent mode Clarity holds back _clck and _clsk until a consent signal arrives. Recording via /collect continues meanwhile.

   Art. 5(3) Directive 2002/58/EC

3. 03

   Plugin or Tag Manager

   The Clarity plugin for WordPress or a Clarity tag in Tag Manager without a consent check loads before the choice.

   Art. 5(3) Directive 2002/58/EC

Step by step

1. Measure

   Open the page in a private window, developer tools (F12), Network tab, filter for “clarity” and reload without touching the banner. Under Application, Cookies look for _clck. The report does this for every page it reads.

2. Load only after consent

   In the banner tool assign Clarity to the statistics category (script address www.clarity.ms/tag) or tie the tag to consent in Tag Manager. Then it does not load before the choice at all.

3. Pass on the signal

   Once Clarity loads only after consent, also report the choice through Clarity's consent API so it knows about later changes. clarity('metadata', …) in the console shows the state.

4. Measure again

   Check again without consent and after “Reject”. Only when no request to clarity.ms is left in the list does Clarity no longer record before the choice.

Questions