www.clarity.ms: How Microsoft Clarity Tracks Your Online Behavior

Microsoft Clarity’s tracker, www.clarity.ms, is a behavioral analytics tool that monitors your interactions on websites. It collects extensive data to analyze user behavior, but this comes at a significant cost to your privacy. Here’s what you need to know about what it does, what it collects, and how to protect yourself.

What Is www.clarity.ms?

Clarity is a free tool offered by Microsoft to website owners, designed to track user interactions like clicks, scrolls, and mouse movements. It generates heatmaps and session recordings to “improve user experience,” but its data collection is highly invasive. As Privacy Auditors, we believe you should be aware of how tools like Clarity undermine your anonymity online.

Data It Collects

When you visit a site using Clarity, it gathers the following:

• Mouse Movements: Tracks X/Y coordinates and timestamps of your cursor.
• Clicks: Logs where and when you click, including specific elements (e.g., “button#submit”).
• Scroll Depth: Measures how far you scroll, in pixels or percentage.
• IP Address: Reveals your location and can be linked to your identity.
• Session ID: Ties all your actions in a session to a unique identifier.
• User ID: If the site assigns you an ID, Clarity can track you as an individual.
• Browser Details: Identifies your browser (e.g., Chrome 128.0) and version.
• Operating System: Logs your OS, like “Windows 11” or “Android 14.”
• Device Type: Detects if you’re on a desktop, mobile, or tablet (e.g., “Samsung Galaxy S23”).
• Screen Resolution: Records your display size, such as 2560x1440.
• Language Preference: Notes your browser’s language, like en-GB.
• Page URL: Captures the full URL, including query parameters.
• Referrer URL: Tracks where you came from, such as a search engine or ad.
• Timestamps: Logs every action with millisecond precision.
• Cookie IDs: Uses cookies (e.g., _clck, _clsk) to track you across visits.
• Viewport Size: Records the visible portion of the page, like 1280x720.
• Network Type: Identifies your connection, such as Wi-Fi or 5G.
• JavaScript Errors: Collects error logs if the site malfunctions.

This level of tracking creates a detailed profile of your behavior, which can be used to identify and target you.

Who Gets Your Data?

Clarity shares your data with multiple parties:

• Microsoft: Data is stored in Azure Cloud and used for “product enhancement” and advertising, as per the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
• Website Owners: The site using Clarity receives detailed analytics about your behavior.
• Advertising Networks: Microsoft may use your data for targeted ads through Microsoft Advertising.
• Law Enforcement: Microsoft’s 2024 transparency report notes over 165,000 global law enforcement requests, with data like IP addresses shared in 70% of U.S. cases.

How to Protect Yourself

At the Privacy Auditors Institute, we’re committed to helping you reclaim your privacy. Here’s how you can minimize or block Clarity’s tracking:

• Enable Tracker Blockers: Tools like the Privacy Auditor paid service can block ‘www.clarity.ms’ scripts. Check your browser extension settings to ensure trackers are stopped. The free version shows you the trackers.
• Use a VPN: A VPN like Mullvad hides your IP address, making it harder for trackers to pinpoint your location or identity. Connect to one before browsing.
• Browse with Privacy-Focused Browsers: Use Firefox with strict tracking protection or Tor Browser for maximum anonymity.
• Disable JavaScript: Clarity relies on JavaScript to function. Disabling it via browser settings or extensions like NoScript can stop the tracker, though it may affect site functionality.
• Clear Cookies Regularly: Delete cookies like _clck and _clsk to disrupt cross-session tracking.

For the best protection, combine these methods. A VPN alone won’t block trackers, but it’s a critical layer in your privacy stack besides our Privacy Auditor Service.

Sources

• Microsoft Privacy Statement
• Clarity FAQ
• Clarity GitHub Repository