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Bot Traffic Filtering in Sealmetrics

Sealmetrics filters bot traffic using a three‑layer privacy‑safe system fully compliant with GDPR, ePrivacy, and PECR.

We do not track users, store personal identifiers, or use fingerprinting techniques.
All filtering methods operate without requiring consent.

Sealmetrics is the only analytics platform that combines three independent systems to block bots while remaining 100% privacy compliant.

Why This Matters

Bot traffic inflates metrics and corrupts business decisions.
Most tools rely on IP filtering or device-level identifiers that require user consent and violate EU privacy law.

Sealmetrics provides high‑accuracy filtering without personal data.

1. Automatic Bot Detection (User-Agent Based)

Sealmetrics automatically filters all traffic where the user agent contains “bot”, case-insensitive.

Examples include:

  • Googlebot
  • Bingbot
  • AhrefsBot
  • DuckDuckBot
  • Any crawler that self-identifies

This removes the majority of standard crawlers instantly and without processing personal information.

2. Behavioural Pattern Filtering (Non‑Identified Bots)

Bots that do not disclose themselves are detected through behaviour.

A user agent is temporarily blocked when:

More than 4 hits occur within 5 seconds

When triggered:

  • The user agent is frozen for 1 hour
  • All hits inside that window are filtered
  • The rule applies to any user agent (bot name or not)

This method:

  • Detects aggressive scrapers
  • Blocks automated testing tools
  • Avoids false positives
  • Preserves analytics accuracy
  • Remains fully privacy compliant

3. Privacy‑Safe IP‑Based Bot Filtering (Legal Approval – Nov 2025)

Sealmetrics now uses an IP‑based blocklist approved by the legal team.
This adds a third layer of precision without ever storing or tracking human IP addresses.

How it works​

  • Sealmetrics maintains a private database of known bot IP ranges
  • When a hit arrives, we check if the incoming IP appears in this list
  • If it matches → the hit is excluded
  • If it does not match → we do not store the IP and cannot identify the user

Privacy Guarantee​

  • Human IPs are never logged, stored, or processed beyond the single real‑time check
  • No personal data is collected
  • No identification or tracking is possible
  • Fully compliant with GDPR, ePrivacy, and PECR

This system allows us to block large bot networks and datacenter crawlers while protecting end‑user privacy.

Why Our Three‑Layer System Works Better

Sealmetrics is the only analytics platform offering three independent bot‑detection layers, all privacy-safe:

  1. User-Agent Bot Detection
  2. Behavioural Detection & Temporary Blocking
  3. Legally Approved IP‑Based Bot Filtering (no storage, no tracking)

Key Advantages​

  • Zero personal data collected
  • Zero user identification
  • Fully consentless and compliant
  • Accurate detection of disclosed, hidden, and network‑level bots
  • No risk of blocking legitimate users based on shared IP ranges
  • Stronger protection than single-layer or IP-only systems

Summary

Sealmetrics ensures clean, reliable analytics through a unique 3‑layer filtering approach:

  1. User-Agent filtering for declared bots
  2. Behavioural pattern detection for hidden bots
  3. Privacy‑safe IP blocklist filtering for known bot networks

No fingerprints.
No cookies.
No personal data.

Just accurate, compliant, modern analytics.