Squarespace is a website-builder and commerce platform, taken private in October 2024 by funds affiliated with Permira Advisers LLC (alongside founder Anthony Casalena and existing shareholders Accel and General Atlantic) in a deal that delisted its stock from the NYSE, per its own Schedule 13E-3 filings with the SEC. Squarespace's privacy policy discloses that it collects and processes not only its paying Customers' data but also automatically-received data about "End Users" (visitors to Customer-built sites), and its cookie policy states that it places and manages third-party Google Analytics and Meta Pixel cookies via Google Tag Manager and shares device identifiers with advertising partners; the policy self-declares a CCPA "Sharing" designation (opt-outable) while stating it does not otherwise "Sell" personal information. The Apple App Store privacy label lists Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics as linked to the user's identity but declares no data used to track users across other companies' apps. Squarespace's own Help Center confirms it auto-created new Squarespace accounts (keyed to the email address on file) for domains migrated from Google Domains, requiring the original owner to verify by email and set a password to claim the account — a design independent security researchers reported was exploited by attackers in a July 2024 wave of domain hijackings that seized unclaimed accounts and several customer domains; no FTC or state-AG order was found via primary sources.
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Squarespace's privacy policy states that beyond its paying Customers, it also acts as an independent data controller for personal information relating to "End Users" — visitors to sites hosted on its Services — which it automatically receives, including via cookies, when an End User visits a Customer's site.
Squarespace's Apple App Store privacy label discloses that Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data, and Diagnostics may be collected and linked to the user's identity.
An earlier Squarespace Schedule 13E-3/A filing lists the equity financing sources for the going-private deal, including an Equity Commitment Letter executed by multiple Permira VIII fund entities, directly identifying funds affiliated with Permira Advisers LLC as the controlling investor group in the transaction alongside Accel, General Atlantic and founder Anthony Casalena.
Squarespace's Schedule 13E-3 (Amendment No. 3), a final amendment reporting the results of its going-private transaction, confirms the merger closed on October 17, 2024, with Squarespace surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of "Parent," and that shares would be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and deregistered under the Exchange Act.
Squarespace's privacy policy states it does not "Sell" personal information as defined by the CCPA, but does "Share" device information and identifiers such as IP address, unique advertising identifiers and cookies with advertising partners for tailored advertising, and provides a mechanism to opt out of this Sale/Sharing.
Squarespace's cookie policy states it partners with third-party publishers, advertising networks and other vendors whose cookies gather information about a user's activity on the Services and other sites for ad targeting, and that it recognizes Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals to opt US state residents out of these partners' advertising cookies.
Squarespace's own Help Center article on the Google Domains migration confirms that for domains transferred from Google Domains where the owner did not already have a Squarespace account, Squarespace automatically created one keyed to the Google Domains account's email address, requiring the owner to verify by email and set a password to claim it — the account-provisioning design later reported by independent security researchers to have been exploited in a July 2024 wave of domain hijackings.
Squarespace's cookie policy states that it directly places and manages certain third-party cookies on its own Services via Google Tag Manager, and names Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel as examples.