Analysis and visualization tools allow the site owner to monitor both user behavior and system performance, to spot anomalous behavior. Data may also be exported for analysis with external tools. Prophet is designed to not record or know user details such as IP address, log-in name, password, etc. Information can only be passed back to the site owner or hosting service. Personal data entered by the user on a voluntary basis, such as that provided to complete a purchase, can be excluded from the collection process by the site designer.
Individual users remain completely anonymous.
Competitive Web monitoring applications attempt to provide usability data by watching the Web servers or network management systems themselves. They typically deploy computer scripts or even volunteer Web surfers to hit a Web site and report results. At best, these only provide anecdotal information on usability or performance, based on crude statistical mechanisms derived from sparse or inappropriate data. None provides actual factual results as to where and how users moved around individual pages, frames or forms, what buttons they clicked on or what data they entered. Prophet even detects and reports user environment details such as browser window size, browser type and version number.