Privacy Ratings

Domain registrars

Squarespace Domains privacy rating

Domain registrar run by the website builder Squarespace, which took over Google Domains customers. Registrations include WHOIS privacy on eligible domains, DNSSEC and SSL.

Summary

Squarespace Domains scores 27 out of 100 (grade F) on the domain registrars criteria. It meets 2 of 12 criteria: TLS configuration and two-factor login. It partly meets Free WHOIS privacy, honest renewal pricing and transfer and registry lock. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests and security headers. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade F.

Score 27 out of 100. How scoring works

Criteria

  • No

    Open source Weight 3 of 3

    Is all the source code needed to run the product public?

    Closed source.

  • No

    No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3

    Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?

    The home page loads Google Tag Manager.

  • No

    No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3

    Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?

    The privacy policy says interactions with third-party services are analyzed to tailor advertising.

    squarespace.com

  • No

    Independent audit Weight 2 of 3

    Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?

    No independent audit is published.

  • No

    Transparency report Weight 2 of 3

    Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?

    No transparency report or government request policy is published.

  • No

    Tells users about requests Weight 1 of 3

    Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?

    No published policy on notifying users about data requests.

  • Partial

    Free WHOIS privacy Weight 2 of 3

    Is registrant data hidden from public WHOIS and RDAP at no extra cost?

    Free on eligible domains, but most ccTLDs do not allow it.

    support.squarespace.com

  • Partial

    Honest renewal pricing Weight 1 of 3

    Are renewal prices the same as, or close to, the first-year price?

    Domains renew at the standard annual TLD price, so first-year offers and discounts renew higher.

    support.squarespace.com

  • Yes

    Two-factor login Weight 2 of 3

    Do accounts support two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or security key?

    Authenticator apps, passkeys and hardware security keys are supported, as well as SMS in some countries.

    support.squarespace.com

  • Partial

    Transfer and registry lock Weight 1 of 3

    Is transfer lock on by default, with registry lock available?

    A transfer lock is enabled by default. No registry lock service is documented.

    support.squarespace.com

Automated tests

  • Yes

    TLS configuration Weight 2 of 3

    Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?

    Grade A+

    ssllabs.com

  • No

    Security headers Weight 1 of 3

    Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?

    Grade F (0/100+)

    developer.mozilla.org

  • Not tested yet

    Modern web standards Weight 1 of 3

    Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?

    Not tested yet.

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