Effective June 6, 2026.
TL;DR
- You don’t need an account to use the calculator. We don’t have signups.
- We don’t set any cookies that track you across other sites.
- We use privacy-friendly analytics (Plausible) that does not store personal data.
- We use Microsoft Clarity for anonymized session replays and heatmaps to improve the calculator UX. Form inputs are masked by default, and Clarity is skipped entirely if your browser sends Do-Not-Track. Details below.
- Affiliate links to Amazon are clearly marked and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. See the affiliate disclosure.
- You can email contact@pcbottleneck.com for any privacy request.
What data we collect
We collect anonymous aggregate analytics via Plausible (an EU-hosted, privacy-focused analytics service). Plausible records:
- The URL you visited
- The referring site (if you arrived from a link)
- Browser + operating system family (e.g. “Chrome on macOS”)
- Country-level location (derived from your IP, then discarded)
- Screen size category (mobile / tablet / desktop)
Plausible does not use cookies, does not store your IP address after deriving country, does not fingerprint your browser, and does not track you across other sites. The full Plausible data policy is at plausible.io/data-policy.
We also use Vercel Analytics for aggregate page-speed metrics. Vercel does not set tracking cookies; it uses anonymized request data to compute Web Vitals. Vercel’s policy: vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.
Behavior analytics (Microsoft Clarity)
We use Microsoft Clarityto record anonymized sessions and generate heatmaps of how visitors use the calculator. This is the data we use to spot UX problems — for example, finding out that the resolution toggle is being missed on mobile, or that visitors keep clicking a non-clickable label thinking it’s a button. Clarity records:
- Mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, and touch interactions
- The pages you visit and how long you spend on each
- Browser, OS, screen resolution, and country (same as Plausible)
- A video-like replay of your session, with all form inputs masked
Clarity does not record what you type into form fields (we use the default content masking), does not capture passwords, and does not link sessions across sites. Microsoft assigns a random visitor ID stored in a first-party cookie; this is used only to stitch a session together.
How to opt out (any one is enough):
- Enable Do Not Track in your browser. We check the DNT signal before Clarity loads — if you have it set, no Clarity script is ever executed.
- Use any DNS-level ad blocker (NextDNS, AdGuard, Pi-hole) — Clarity’s domain (clarity.ms) is on every standard blocklist.
- Use Brave browser — Brave blocks Clarity out of the box.
- Email contact@pcbottleneck.com with your approximate session timestamp and we’ll request deletion from Clarity within 30 days.
Microsoft’s Clarity privacy notice: clarity.microsoft.com/terms. The broader Microsoft privacy statement: privacy.microsoft.com/privacystatement. Microsoft processes Clarity data on EU-hosted infrastructure for EU visitors under Standard Contractual Clauses.
Cookies
We use one category of cookies only: strictly necessaryones set by Vercel (our hosting provider) for content delivery and basic security (e.g. anti-DDoS). These don’t track you and don’t require consent under GDPR.
We do not use:
- Marketing or advertising cookies
- Cross-site tracking cookies
- Third-party analytics cookies (Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, etc.)
Affiliate links
Pages featuring CPUs and GPUs include “Buy on Amazon” links that may earn us a small commission if you make a purchase. We don’t share any of your data with Amazon — when you click the link, Amazon may set its own cookies under its policy. See the dedicated affiliate disclosure for the full details.
Your rights (GDPR / CCPA / UK-GDPR)
Because we don’t store personal information about you, most data-subject requests resolve to “there’s nothing to delete or correct.” That said, you have the following rights:
- Right to access — request a copy of any data we hold about you
- Right to rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
- Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — request deletion of any data we hold
- Right to object — opt out of aggregate analytics (instructions below)
- Right to data portability — receive any data you provided in a structured format
- Right to lodge a complaint — file a complaint with your national data protection authority
Email contact@pcbottleneck.com with any request. We respond within 30 days.
Opting out of analytics
To disable all analytics on this site at once, use any of these:
- Enable Do Not Track in your browser settings. Both Plausible and Clarity honor DNT — if it’s set, no analytics scripts load.
- Install any DNS-level ad blocker (NextDNS, AdGuard, Pi-hole) — Plausible (plausible.io) and Clarity (clarity.ms) are on every standard blocklist.
- Use Brave browser — it blocks both by default.
Data retention
Plausible aggregate data is retained indefinitely (it cannot identify individuals). Microsoft Clarityretains session replays for up to 13 months by default; we don’t extend that window. Vercel server access logs are retained for 90 days, then permanently deleted. We don’t maintain any other data store about visitors.
Children
This site is intended for general audiences. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 (COPPA) or under 16 (GDPR). If you believe we have collected such data, email contact@pcbottleneck.com and we will delete it immediately.
International transfers
Plausible is hosted in the EU. Vercel is a US company with infrastructure globally. Both have Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) in place for EU-to-US data transfer where applicable. We do not transfer any data to countries outside these arrangements.
Changes to this policy
If we materially change how we handle data, we’ll update the effective date at the top of this page and announce the change in a footer notice for 30 days.
Contact
Operator: Salman Ahmed (salmanahmed.tech)
Email: contact@pcbottleneck.com