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Gladly is a people centered customer support platform from Gladly Inc. in San Francisco, with an embeddable Sidekick help and chat widget.
Gladly is a people centered customer support platform operated by Gladly Inc. in San Francisco. It offers an embeddable Sidekick help and chat widget that combines self service answers with live messaging across channels.
The Sidekick widget loads via JavaScript and sets session and widget cookies to keep the chat session consistent and to remember widget state. It processes the content of messages, contact details a customer provides and metadata about the conversation.
Cookies that are strictly necessary to run the chat do not require consent, but widget tracking cookies that go beyond that require consent under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Support and messaging content is personal data under the GDPR and UK GDPR.
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Obtain consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR before loading the widget tracking cookies. The messaging itself can rely on legitimate interest or on contract once the customer chooses to engage with support.
Gladly hosts on AWS in the United States, so support and messaging data for EEA and UK visitors is transferred to a third country. Gladly relies on Standard Contractual Clauses together with supplementary measures. Document this transfer and assess the risk for your visitors.
Sign the Gladly data processing addendum, review the SCCs and supplementary measures, gate the widget tracking cookies behind consent, list the Gladly cookies in your cookie policy, set retention for support records and inform customers about the US transfer.
Websites using Gladly must obtain user consent under GDPR regulations.
DPIA considerations
A DPIA is recommended for EEA and UK deployments because Gladly processes customer support and messaging data in the United States. Assess the volume of personal data in conversations, the widget tracking cookies, the transfer to the US under Standard Contractual Clauses, supplementary measures and retention of support records.
Sample consent text
We use Gladly to provide help and messaging on this site. With your consent, the Gladly widget sets cookies to support the chat and to recognise you. You can accept or decline these cookies at any time.
Third-party domains contacted
gladly.comcdn.gladly.comapi.gladly.comCookies placed
| Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| gladly_session | Third-party | Session | Maintains the Gladly Sidekick chat session so the conversation stays consistent. |
| gladly_widget | Third-party | Persistent | Stores Sidekick widget state and display preferences across page views. |
| gladly_visitor | Third-party | Persistent | Stores a visitor identifier used to recognise a returning visitor in the Sidekick widget. |
Gladly uses cookies for user preferences — inform visitors with a consent banner.
The Gladly Sidekick widget sets session and widget cookies to keep the chat session consistent and to remember widget state. Some widget tracking cookies go beyond strict necessity and require consent.
Yes for the widget tracking cookies that are not strictly necessary, under the ePrivacy Directive. The messaging function can run on legitimate interest or contract once a customer engages with support.
Tracking cookies rely on consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. The support messaging can rely on legitimate interest or on contract once the customer chooses to engage with the service.
Yes. Gladly hosts on AWS in the United States, so support and messaging data for EEA and UK visitors is transferred to a third country. Gladly relies on Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary measures.
A DPIA is recommended for EEA and UK deployments because conversations can contain significant personal data and are processed in the United States. Assess data volume, the US transfer, supplementary measures and retention.
Sign the data processing addendum, review the SCCs and supplementary measures, gate the widget tracking cookies behind consent, list the Gladly cookies in your cookie policy and inform customers about the US transfer.
EU based options such as Landbot keep most processing within the EU. Other support tools include Zendesk, Intercom and Crisp. Compare hosting region, transfer safeguards and consent controls before choosing.
List the Gladly session and widget cookies with their purposes and durations, state that they support the Sidekick widget, name Gladly Inc. as the provider and disclose the transfer to the United States.