Is hCaptcha GDPR compliant?

What does hCaptcha do?

A reCAPTCHA replacement that markets itself on privacy. It still loads third-party code and evaluates behaviour, so it is an improvement on Google rather than an exemption from consent.

Does hCaptcha need consent?

Yes. hCaptcha is Bot protection, which is never strictly necessary for a website to function. Under ePrivacy Article 5(3), and its national transpositions, storing or reading anything on the device for that purpose requires consent first, and that consent has to be as easy to refuse as it is to give.

ePrivacy Art. 5(3) · TDDDG § 25 (DE) · TKG 2021 § 165(3) (AT) · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)

Does hCaptcha send data outside the EEA?

Yes. hCaptcha processes data outside the European Economic Area, so you need a transfer mechanism under Chapter V and you have to say so in your privacy policy. In practice this means standard contractual clauses, or a provider certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

GDPR Art. 44 · GDPR Art. 46

What can I use instead of hCaptcha?

How do we detect hCaptcha?

We load your page in a real browser as a first-time visitor who clicks nothing, then look at what it contacted. hCaptcha is recognised by requests to hcaptcha.com, and we report whether it merely loaded or actually sent data, and whether it set a cookie before any choice was made.