Legal
Privacy Policy
How HostElevate collects, uses, shares and protects personal data, and the choices you have over it.
Contents 14 sections
- 1. Who we are and what this policy covers
- 2. What information do we collect?
- 3. How do we use it?
- 4. Do we share it with anyone?
- 5. Cookies and similar technologies
- 6. Where is your data stored?
- 7. How long do we keep it?
- 8. How do we protect it?
- 9. Data on websites you host with us
- 10. Your rights and choices
- 11. Children
- 12. Links to other websites
- 13. Changes to this policy
- 14. Contact and governing law
Your privacy, in short
HostElevate hosts websites, email and applications for businesses worldwide, so we hold information about our customers and, on their behalf, about their visitors. This policy explains exactly what we collect, why, who else sees it and what you can ask us to do with it. The short version is below; the full detail follows in numbered sections.
At a glance
We never sell your data
Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone.
Card details never reach our servers
Payments are handled by the payment provider. We never see your full card number.
Analytics only with your consent
Google Analytics loads only after you choose Accept in the cookie banner.
Your website content stays yours
We do not read, mine or train on the files, email and databases you host with us.
You can see, correct or delete your data
Ask us and we reply within thirty days.
Only what we need, for as long as we need it
Then it is deleted or anonymised.
Where the law requires your consent, such as for analytics cookies and marketing email, we ask for it separately. Visiting our website does not, on its own, mean you have agreed to either.
Who we are and what this policy covers
The scope, in plain terms.
- 1.1
HostElevate ("we", "us" or "our") provides web hosting, WordPress and WooCommerce hosting, reseller hosting, cloud servers, domain registration and related services (the "Services").
- 1.2
This policy applies when you visit hostelevate.com, use our client area at billing.hostelevate.com, contact us by ticket, chat or email, or use any of the Services.
- 1.3
It does not cover personal data that our customers collect on the websites and applications they host with us. That is explained in section 9.
- 1.4
This policy is read together with our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy.
What information do we collect?
What you give us, what the Services record, and what your browser sends.
- 2.1
Information you give us: your name, email address, phone number and billing address, and a company name or tax details if you provide them. When you register a domain, we also collect the registrant contact details the registry requires. When you contact us, we keep the content of your tickets, chats and emails.
- 2.2
Information created when you use the Services: your account and order history, invoices and payment records, service settings, and records of logins to your account, including the IP address and time.
- 2.3
Technical information: when you visit our website or connect to our servers, we receive your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you request and the site that referred you. Our servers keep logs of web, email and control panel connections.
- 2.4
Payment information: card and PayPal payments are handled directly by the payment provider. We receive confirmation of the payment and, for cards, limited details such as the card type and last four digits so you can recognise the payment method. We never receive or store full card numbers or security codes.
- 2.5
We do not intentionally collect sensitive information, such as health, religious or biometric data. Please do not include it in tickets or chats.
How do we use it?
To run your services, not to profile you.
- 3.1
We use personal information to:
- (a)set up, run and support the Services you order;
- (b)take payments, send invoices and remind you before renewals;
- (c)answer your tickets, chats and emails;
- (d)keep our systems secure, prevent fraud and investigate abuse under our Acceptable Use Policy;
- (e)meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations;
- (f)understand how our website is used and improve it, where you have accepted analytics cookies; and
- (g)send you news and offers, only if you have opted in.
- 3.2
We do not use the content you host with us, such as website files, email and databases, for advertising, profiling or training artificial intelligence models of any kind.
- 3.3
While you have an active Service, we will send you essential messages about it, such as invoices, security alerts and planned maintenance. These are part of the Service and are not marketing, so they cannot be switched off separately.
Where is your data stored?
On servers we manage, and with providers in other countries where needed.
- 6.1
Our website and client area run on servers we manage in professional data centres. Cloud servers run in the region you choose when you order: Germany, Finland, the United States or Singapore.
- 6.2
Some of our providers, such as those for payments, analytics, live chat and DNS, process information in other countries, including the European Union and the United States. When information moves between countries, we use established providers with appropriate safeguards and share only what is needed.
How long do we keep it?
As long as there is a reason to, and no longer.
- 7.1
Account information: for as long as your account is open, and afterwards only for as long as the purposes below require.
- 7.2
Invoices and payment records: for as long as tax and accounting law requires, typically seven years.
- 7.3
Tickets and chats: with your account history, so we can refer back to earlier conversations. They are deleted with the account unless they are needed for a dispute or a legal obligation.
- 7.4
Server and email logs: for a short operational period for security and troubleshooting, after which they are rotated and deleted.
- 7.5
Content on cancelled Services: deleted after the retention period stated for your plan. Backups containing it expire on their normal schedule.
- 7.6
When we no longer need information, we delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.
How do we protect it?
Encryption, restricted access, and honesty if something goes wrong.
- 8.1
Our website, client area and control panels are served over encrypted connections (HTTPS).
- 8.2
Access to production systems is limited to the people who need it to run the Services, protected by strong authentication and logged.
- 8.3
Two-factor authentication is available for your client area account at no cost, and we recommend turning it on.
- 8.4
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the applicable law requires.
- 8.5
You are responsible for keeping your passwords safe, not sharing your login, and logging out on shared devices.
Data on websites you host with us
Your visitors' data is yours to look after.
- 9.1
When you host a website, email or application with us, you decide what personal data it collects about your own visitors and customers. For that data, you are responsible for meeting the privacy laws that apply to you, and we act only as your hosting provider.
- 9.2
We access hosted content only to provide the Services, to give support you ask for, to keep our systems secure, or where the law or our Acceptable Use Policy requires it.
- 9.3
If your website collects personal data, you should publish your own privacy policy for your visitors.
Your rights and choices
See it, fix it, take it with you or have it deleted.
- 10.1
You can ask us to:
- (a)give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- (b)correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date;
- (c)delete your information, where no legal obligation requires us to keep it;
- (d)stop or limit certain uses of your information;
- (e)export your data in a common format; and
- (f)withdraw any consent you have given, such as for analytics or marketing email.
- 10.2
You can update most account details yourself at any time in the client area.
- 10.3
To make a request, email support@hostelevate.com with "Privacy request" in the subject line. We may ask you to confirm your identity before acting, and we reply within thirty days.
- 10.4
Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can change your email preferences in the client area.
- 10.5
Depending on where you live, for example in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you may have further rights under local data protection law, including the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
Our Services are for adults.
- 11.1
The Services are intended for people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.
Links to other websites
Other sites have their own rules.
- 12.1
Our website links to other websites, such as payment pages, domain registries and social media. Those websites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for how they handle your information.
Changes to this policy
We tell you before anything important changes.
- 13.1
We may update this policy as the Services or the law change. If a change materially affects how we use your personal information, we will email customers before it takes effect.
- 13.2
The current version of this policy is always the one published on this page.
Contact and governing law
Who to ask, and which law applies.
- 14.1
Questions about this policy, and privacy requests, go to support@hostelevate.com with "Privacy request" in the subject line. Customers can also open a ticket from the client area.
- 14.2
This policy is governed by the laws of the country in which HostElevate is registered. Nothing in it limits any rights you have under the data protection law of the country where you live.