EU Privacy Mode
EU Privacy Mode gives administrators one instance-wide control for BugPin's user activity trail. Enable it when BugPin must guarantee that activity trails are disabled across every project.
This setting is a technical safeguard, not a certification that a deployment is GDPR compliant. The operator remains responsible for determining which legal requirements apply and for handling notices, authorization, retention, recipients, and data-subject requests.
Why This Feature Exists
The activity trail helps developers understand the actions that led to a bug. Depending on the application, those interactions can also reveal information about a user or their work. Recording data in browser memory and later attaching it to a report may therefore require a privacy assessment.
BugPin does not know where a visitor is located or which legal basis an operator relies on. Instead, the administrator selects a clear technical posture for the instance.
For legal background, see the official General Data Protection Regulation, ePrivacy Directive, and EDPB Guidelines 2/2023 on Article 5(3). Consult qualified counsel for advice about a specific deployment.
How the Modes Work
| EU Privacy Mode | Project activity setting | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | On or not configured | BugPin records the automatic activity trail |
| Off | Off | Activity is disabled for that project |
| On | Any setting | Activity is disabled for every project |
EU Privacy Mode Off
Automatic activity trails are available. Each project can still turn User activity trail off under Projects → Project Settings → Diagnostics.
Use this mode only when you have determined that activity capture is appropriate and have handled any required authorization outside BugPin.
EU Privacy Mode On
Activity trails are disabled across the instance. A project cannot override the global restriction. If the mode is later turned off, each project's saved activity setting becomes effective again.
How BugPin Enforces the Setting
The restriction is enforced in both the widget and server:
- The server derives an
automaticordisabledactivity policy from the global and project settings. - The widget loads that policy before installing its activity listener.
- With a
disabledpolicy, the widget does not record activity and clears its activity buffer. - When a report is submitted, the server checks the current policy again. If an outdated or modified widget submits activity while it is disabled, the server removes only the activity data and accepts the rest of the report.
- Reports without activity do not show the User Activity Trail card.
Changing the setting does not remove activity from historical reports. Existing reports continue to follow the configured retention period and can be deleted through the normal report controls.
What the Activity Trail Contains
When activity capture is enabled, BugPin keeps a bounded trail of up to 30 recent interactions, such as:
- Button and link clicks
- Input-field interactions without typed values
- Select and checkbox changes
- Similar interactive controls
BugPin does not record keystrokes or typed form values. Common email, phone, payment-card, UUID, JWT, and token-like patterns are redacted before storage. Applications can mark sensitive interface regions with data-bugpin-private so interactions inside those regions are ignored.
What EU Privacy Mode Does Not Change
EU Privacy Mode controls only the user activity trail. It does not automatically disable:
- Screenshots and attachments
- Information entered into the bug report form
- Console output
- Network failures
- Browser-storage key names
Console, network, and storage-key diagnostics are configured separately under Projects → Project Settings → Diagnostics. Storage-key capture is off by default.
Configure EU Privacy Mode
- Open the Admin Console.
- Navigate to Security & Privacy → Privacy.
- Enable or disable EU Privacy Mode.
- Select Save Privacy Settings.
BugPin does not detect geography or enable this setting automatically. Review the setting whenever the jurisdictions, users, or data handled by an application change.