SilentChat

Presence-Tracking — See live visitors before the chat

Last updated: September 9, 2026

By default, SilentChat follows Privacy-by-Default: Visitors appear in the dashboard only after they send a message. This is the safest GDPR standard and does not require a cookie banner.

If you want to see visitors earlier — as soon as they open the chat, even without sending a message — you can activate Presence-Tracking per widget. For this, visitors must consent beforehand.

When is Presence-Tracking useful?

  • Proactive customer contact: Agent should be able to address visitors before they write a message
  • Dwell time analysis: You want to know that someone is in the chat before they type
  • Outbound sales: Sales team actively uses live visitor list for lead identification

For pure support chat, Presence-Tracking is not necessary — Privacy-by-Default is sufficient.

Two ways to obtain consent

1. Widget Dialog (recommended)

The widget shows directly when the chat is opened a small, non-modal consent notice:

„May we show our team that you are here so we can help proactively?" [Later] [Yes, please]

  • No additional effort for you as the operator
  • Visitors decide when opening the chat
  • Decline is cached for 7 days (configurable)
  • Accept is cached for 180 days → Returning visitors can be automatically tracked (optional)

2. External Consent Tool

If you use Cookiebot, Usercentrics, OneTrust, or your own cookie banner, you can signal the consent from there:

window.SilentChat.setConsent('presence_tracking', true);   // Accept
window.SilentChat.revokeConsent('presence_tracking');      // Revoke
window.SilentChat.getConsent('presence_tracking');          // "granted" | "declined" | "unknown"

Important: The widget will then no longer show its own banner — the responsibility for obtaining legally compliant consent lies with your consent tool.

Activate

  1. Settings → Widgets → [Your Widget] → Privacy
  2. Open card „Presence-Tracking", activate toggle
  3. Select Consent Source (Dialog in chat or External Consent Tool)
  4. Optionally: Adjust dialog text, button labels, and privacy URL
  5. Save Presence-Tracking

Tip: The privacy tab now also holds your consent banner texts, privacy policy URL, imprint URL, and AI disclosure — all GDPR-relevant settings in one place.

Auto-Track Returning

If a visitor has already consented once and returns, you can automatically create the session when the page is loaded — without a new banner. To do this, activate the toggle „Automatically track returning visitors".

Presence-Consent vs. Chat-Consent

Presence-Consent is independent of Chat-Consent:

  • „Later" → Banner disappears. Chat still works (Legal basis: Contract)
  • „Yes, please" → Visible in the dashboard. Chat usage possible without further consent
  • Revocation → Session ends, visitor disappears. Chat remains possible

Legal classification (GDPR)

  • Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) via consent banner + consent_logs tamper-proof (Art. 7 para. 1)
  • Revocation (Art. 7 para. 3) possible at any time
  • TTDSG § 25: Widget stores no cookies/fingerprints until consent
  • Retention according to your data retention settings

Deactivate

Toggle back to „off". No new presence sessions. Existing sessions run normally to the end. Consent logs are retained (audit trail).