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Session Replay

Hotjar : Datenschutz, & EU Alternatives

Hotjar is EU/EEA-based: no third-country transfer at the primary vendor. Still check the subprocessor list.

🇪🇺EUEU-Anbieter

Last checked:

Is Hotjar GDPR compliant?

Hotjar is EU/EEA-based: no third-country transfer at the primary vendor. Still check the subprocessor list.

Vendor Profile

Who is the contractual partner?

Jurisdiction
EU
Hosting
GCP EU-West
Owner
Contentsquare🇫🇷

Sovereignty Level: Level 3 of 4

EU-Anbieter mit US-Subprozessoren. Vertragspartner ist EU, aber ein einzelner US-Subprozessor reichert das Setup wieder mit Drittland-Risiko an.

  1. Level0
  2. Level1
  3. Level2
  4. Level3
  5. Level4

The five levels, from US-SaaS (Level 0) to fully sovereign (Level 4), we explain in detail here.

Data Categories

What data does Hotjar process?

In typical use, the following data categories arise. Which ones are relevant for you depends on your setup and scope of use.

  • Full session recordings (mouse, keyboard, clicks)
  • Attention heatmaps per page
  • Form input content (unless actively masked)
  • Device and browser data

Data Subjects

Who is affected by the processing?

Under Art. 30 GDPR, you must document the categories of data subjects per processing activity. In typical use, these include:

  • All website visitors with full session recording
  • For form inputs: their content in plain text (unless masked)

Concrete Impact

What does this mean in practice?

Full recordings of all clicks, scrolls and text inputs (including personal data, unless actively masked) are stored with a US provider.

Note: This is a risk description, not a specific incident. Whether access occurred in your case depends on many factors. What can be documented: the risk must be named in your TIA and mitigated with additional measures.

Migration Plan

How to migrate away from Hotjar

The following steps are the typical path for this tool category. Order and time required depend on your specific setup.

  1. 1

    Migration plan depends heavily on your specific setup. We recommend a 30-min consultation.

We help with migration planning at no cost: 30 minutes with a data protection specialist to prioritise and define a migration sprint. Book appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

Hotjar & Privacy: FAQ

Is Hotjar GDPR-compliant?

Hotjar is an EU/EEA-based provider and generally well-suited for GDPR-compliant setups. The usual obligations still apply: DPA, check the subprocessor list, document technical and organisational measures.

Who is the contractual partner for Hotjar?

The contracting party according to the DPA is Contentsquare. The vendor profile above shows the exact ownership chain including subprocessors.

What EU alternatives are there to Hotjar?

There are several GDPR-compliant EU alternatives. They are listed under "EU Alternatives" on this page. The selection is tailored to the feature set of Hotjar (Session-Replay). meetergo covers the core workflow and can fully replace Hotjar in many cases.

Where is Hotjar data stored?

According to provider information: GCP EU-West. Note: even an EU data centre does not protect against the CLOUD Act when the parent company is in the US. This is the core finding of the Schrems II decision.

How much effort is involved in switching away from Hotjar?

Migration effort depends on your specific setup: typically between a few business days (booking, forms) and several weeks (CRM, hosting). The roadmap below shows the typical order.

Related Vendors

More tools in Session Replay

Next Step

Which tools are running on your website?

60 seconds, no login: the Sovereignty Scan shows all detected vendors with jurisdiction, risk, and matching EU alternatives.

To the ScanMethodology

Note

Hinweis

Risiko-Indikator, keine Rechtsberatung.

Der Sovereignty Scan wertet öffentlich erreichbare Signale aus (HTML der Startseite und Rechtsseiten, DNS-, MX-, SPF- und ASN-Daten) und vergleicht sie mit unserer Datenbank von ca. 3.000 Anbietern. Die Zuordnung von Tool zu Eigentümer und Jurisdiktion basiert auf öffentlichen Quellen (Impressum, Datenschutzerklärung, Wappalyzer, RIPE/ARIN-Registrierungen) und ist als Erstindikation zum Stichtag der Auswertung gedacht, nicht als rechtsverbindliche Bewertung.

Die Note A–E ist ein Risiko-Indikator, kein DSGVO-Konformitätsurteil. Für eine konkrete DSGVO-Bewertung, insbesondere für Auftragsverarbeitungsverträge (AVV/DPA), Standardvertragsklauseln (SCC) und Transfer Impact Assessments (TIA), wenden Sie sich bitte an Ihren Datenschutzbeauftragten oder eine externe Rechtsberatung. meetergo trifft keine Aussage darüber, ob ein konkreter Anbieter in einem konkreten Anwendungsfall DSGVO-konform eingesetzt werden kann.

Korrektur & Stellungnahme: Wenn Sie Domain-Inhaber, Datenschutzbeauftragter oder Pressestelle der bewerteten Domain sind und die hier gezeigten Signale nicht Ihrer aktuellen Tool-Konfiguration entsprechen, nehmen wir Korrekturen auf und passen die Anzeige nach Prüfung umgehend an.

Methodik & GrenzenListing korrigieren / Stellungnahme einreichen