diff --git a/cognee/shared/utils.py b/cognee/shared/utils.py
index 7c76cfa59..3b6e7ba14 100644
--- a/cognee/shared/utils.py
+++ b/cognee/shared/utils.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ import http.server
 import socketserver
 from threading import Thread
 import pathlib
-from uuid import uuid4, uuid5, NAMESPACE_OID
+from typing import Union, Any, Dict, List
+from uuid import uuid4, uuid5, NAMESPACE_OID, UUID
 
 from cognee.base_config import get_base_config
 from cognee.shared.logging_utils import get_logger
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ def get_anonymous_id():
     return anonymous_id
 
 
-def _sanitize_nested_properties(obj, property_names: list[str]):
+def _sanitize_nested_properties(obj: Any, property_names: list[str]) -> Any:
     """
     Recursively replaces any property whose key matches one of `property_names`
     (e.g., ['url', 'path']) in a nested dict or list with a uuid5 hash
@@ -78,7 +79,9 @@ def _sanitize_nested_properties(obj, property_names: list[str]):
         return obj
 
 
-def send_telemetry(event_name: str, user_id, additional_properties: dict = {}):
+def send_telemetry(event_name: str, user_id: Union[str, UUID], additional_properties: dict = {}):
+    if additional_properties is None:
+        additional_properties = {}
     if os.getenv("TELEMETRY_DISABLED"):
         return
 
@@ -108,7 +111,7 @@ def send_telemetry(event_name: str, user_id, additional_properties: dict = {}):
         print(f"Error sending telemetry through proxy: {response.status_code}")
 
 
-def embed_logo(p, layout_scale, logo_alpha, position):
+def embed_logo(p: Any, layout_scale: float, logo_alpha: float, position: str):
     """
     Embed a logo into the graph visualization as a watermark.
     """
@@ -138,7 +141,11 @@ def embed_logo(p, layout_scale, logo_alpha, position):
 
 
 def start_visualization_server(
-    host="0.0.0.0", port=8001, handler_class=http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
+    host: str = "0.0.0.0",
+    port: int = 8001,
+    handler_class: type[
+        http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
+    ] = http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler,
 ):
     """
     Spin up a simple HTTP server in a background thread to serve files.