Craigslist is a privately held classifieds site owned and operated by craigslist, Inc., founded by Craig Newmark in the 1990s and run since 2000 by CEO Jim Buckmaster; its own privacy policy states it runs no ads other than user-submitted classifieds, does not share data with third parties for marketing, does not employ tracking devices for marketing purposes, and does not sell user data, though it does collect names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and geolocation directly tied to posting and transacting, discloses phone numbers to phone-verification vendors and payment data to payment processors, and shares data in response to subpoenas/court orders or in a merger/sale of assets. Its App Store privacy label confirms Financial Info, Location, Contact Info, User Content, Search History, and Identifiers are collected and linked to a user's identity, with first-party Analytics use of Identifiers and Device ID, but no 'used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies' category is disclosed. No data breach, FTC action, or state-AG settlement against craigslist was found in a targeted search; craigslist maintains a public (unpaid) security-researcher acknowledgment page with disclosures dated as recently as October 2024, showing an ongoing but informal vulnerability-handling practice rather than a scoped, funded bug-bounty program or published transparency report.
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Apple's App Store privacy label for the craigslist app confirms that Financial Info, Location, Contact Info, User Content, Search History, and Identifiers may be collected and linked to a user's identity.
As assessed by PrivacySpy on 2021-05-26 (see PrivacySpy's rubric entry for this product for the per-claim citation): Does the service collect personal data from third parties? — Yes.
Craigslist's privacy policy discloses collecting users' phone numbers via direct user entry, used for user-to-user communications, combatting fraud/abuse, and personalizing use of the site, and discloses this data to payment processors and phone verification service providers.
Craigslist's own about-page biography of founder Craig Newmark states he founded craigslist in the 1990s and handed over management to the company's current CEO, Jim Buckmaster, in 2000, naming both individuals as craigslist's leadership.
As assessed by PrivacySpy on 2021-05-26 (see PrivacySpy's rubric entry for this product for the per-claim citation): Does the policy outline the service's general security practices? — No.
As assessed by PrivacySpy on 2021-05-26 (see PrivacySpy's rubric entry for this product for the per-claim citation): Does the policy allow personally-targeted or behavioral marketing? — No.
Craigslist's privacy policy states plainly that the company does not sell user data to third parties, in the section introducing its full data-collection-and-disclosure table.
Craigslist maintains a public security-researcher appreciation page thanking researchers for responsibly disclosing security issues, with dated entries spanning 2014 through October 2024, indicating an ongoing but informal (unpaid) vulnerability-disclosure practice rather than a scoped, funded bug-bounty program.
Apple's App Store privacy label for the craigslist app discloses that data including Search History, Identifiers, and Device ID may be used for first-party Analytics and Product Personalization purposes within the app.
Craigslist's privacy policy states the company does not employ tracking devices for marketing purposes, an affirmative no-third-party-marketing-tracking claim in its own privacy commitments section.