Microsoft Clarity's New Cookie Consent Requirements

Update (September 8th, 2025):
This article has been updated to reflect the latest enforcement date and implementation details from Microsoft's email sent on August 27th, 2025.
Full enforcement of the new cookie consent requirements will now take effect on October 31st, 2025, and you must send explicit user consent signals via a supported method (Google Consent Mode, supported CMPs, or the Clarity Consent API) before that date to avoid disruptions.

Microsoft Clarity will begin enforcing cookie consent requirements in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK, and Switzerland. To avoid impact to data collection and Clarity features' functionalities, you must send an explicit consent signal to Clarity using one of the supported methods. Microsoft is rolling out enforcement in phases, with full enforcement taking effect on October 31st, 2025.

The email

Clarity Cookie Consent Requirements Announcement

What do you need to do?

Action Required:

• Starting October 31st, 2025, you are required to share user consent signals for sessions originating from the EEA, UK, and Switzerland.
• Without explicit consent, Clarity features like session recordings and funnel tracking may be impacted, and data collected during these sessions will not be associated to a visitor without a valid cookie.
• You can share consent via Google Consent Mode, supported Consent Management Platforms (CMPs), or the Clarity Consent API.
• Most CMPs support Google Consent Mode. If you prefer a native CMP-Clarity integration, you can use CookieYes.
• For customers who use content management systems to host their sites and integrate Clarity, review the recommended plugins: Third-Party Integrations.
• Please ensure consent signals are implemented before this date to avoid disruptions.

Rollout Timeline:

• Microsoft will enforce this requirement across the European region by October 31st, 2025.
• It is strongly recommended to start making updates now.

Resources

• For technical details, visit the Clarity Client API Documentation.
• For verifying proper implementation, refer to the Consent Mode documentation and Consent FAQs.
• If you need help, contact Clarity's support team at clarityms@microsoft.com.

Why this matters

Privacy laws are evolving quickly, and this change could be the first of many.
Self-hosted tools and data ownership might become the better choice for compliance in the future.

A Self-Hosted Microsoft Clarity Alternative

Why not try a self-hosted, cookie-less alternative instead?
A platform like UXWizz gives you full control of your data.

This way, you don't need to rely on third-party cookies, simplifying privacy-law compliance.
You can get heatmaps and session recordings while keeping the data private, on your own server.
It's better for both your business and your visitors to not share data with another service/company.