What Is Session Replay?

Session replay (or session recording) is a tracking method that records a visitor's on-page behavior, mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, and sometimes keystrokes, to reconstruct and play back their session for later review. Because it can inadvertently capture personal data typed into forms, session replay carries distinct privacy and, in some US states, wiretapping-law exposure.

Session replay tools are usually deployed for legitimate UX research, but their default behavior is aggressive: unless specific fields are explicitly masked, a recording can capture exactly what a visitor typed, including passwords or payment details, even in fields never meant to be logged. In the US, several plaintiffs’ firms have brought claims under state wiretapping statutes like CIPA (California Invasion of Privacy Act), arguing session replay without clear disclosure amounts to recording a conversation without consent.