Privacy Policy
Version 1.0. Last updated 1 August 2026.
This policy explains how Hosting Me collects, uses and protects your personal data when you visit our website, buy a service from us, or contact our support team. It applies to everyone: visitors, customers, and the Authorised Users on a customer’s account.
Where we host, store or transmit personal data on your behalf as part of your hosting, email or VPS service, that is covered by our Data Processing Agreement, not this policy. You are the controller of that data, and we are the processor.
1. Who we are
Hosting Me, International House, London, EC1A 2BN, is the controller responsible for the personal data described in this policy. You can contact us at hello@hostingme.co.uk or 020 8064 1728.
2. The data we collect
| Category | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and contact data | Name, email address, postal address, phone number | You, when you register or place an order |
| Account data | Username, password (hashed), plan, order history | Generated when you use our client portal |
| Billing data | Billing address, VAT number, payment method reference | You, and our payment processors |
| Support data | Tickets, live chat transcripts, call recordings where notified | You, when you contact support |
| Technical data | IP address, browser type, device information, referring pages | Automatically, when you visit our website |
| Usage data | Pages visited, features used, resource usage on your account | Automatically, from our systems |
| Marketing preferences | Whether you have opted in or out of marketing email | You, or inferred from your interactions with our emails |
We do not collect full payment card details. These are taken directly by our payment processors, described in clause 6.
3. How we use your data and our legal basis
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Creating and administering your account, delivering the Services you have ordered | Performance of a contract |
| Billing, invoicing and fraud prevention | Performance of a contract, legal obligation |
| Responding to support requests | Performance of a contract |
| Sending service notices, such as renewal reminders, maintenance notices and security alerts | Performance of a contract, legitimate interest |
| Sending marketing email about our products | Consent, or legitimate interest where you are an existing customer and have not opted out |
| Improving our website and services, analytics | Legitimate interest |
| Complying with our legal and regulatory obligations, including tax and accounting records | Legal obligation |
| Detecting, investigating and preventing abuse of our network | Legitimate interest |
Where we rely on legitimate interest, we have considered that interest against your rights and freedoms and concluded our processing is proportionate. You can ask us for details of that assessment at any time.
4. Marketing
4.1 If you are an existing customer, we may email you about products and services similar to those you have already purchased, relying on the soft opt-in under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. You can opt out at any time.
4.2 If you are not yet a customer, we will only send you marketing email if you have opted in.
4.3 Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. You can also opt out by emailing hello@hostingme.co.uk. Opting out of marketing does not stop us sending you service and billing notices, which are necessary for us to deliver the Services.
5. Cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for full details of what we use, why, and how to manage your preferences.
6. Who we share your data with
We share personal data with the following categories of recipient, only to the extent necessary for the purpose described:
| Recipient | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Our hosting and cloud infrastructure partners | Delivering the underlying hosting, email and VPS infrastructure your Services run on |
| Domain registries and registrars | Registering and managing domain names on your behalf |
| Stripe and PayPal | Processing payments. They act as independent controllers for the payment data they hold |
| Our client management and billing platform | Managing your account, invoices and support tickets |
| Our live chat provider | Handling live chat conversations you start with our support team |
| Professional advisers | Accountants, auditors and legal advisers, where necessary |
| Law enforcement and regulators | Where we are legally required to, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or that of our customers |
| A buyer of our business | If we sell or reorganise our business, subject to the same protections in this policy |
We do not sell your personal data.
7. International transfers
Some of the recipients in clause 6 are based outside the UK, principally in the United States and the European Economic Area. Where that happens, we rely on the UK’s data adequacy regulations, the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, or Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum, as applicable to that recipient.
8. How long we keep your data
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account and billing records | Duration of your account, plus 6 years for tax and accounting purposes |
| Support tickets and chat transcripts | 2 years after resolution |
| Marketing preferences | Until you unsubscribe or opt out |
| Website analytics | 26 months |
| Data relating to a terminated account | Deleted at the point of termination, per clause 10.5 of our Terms of Service, except where we must keep billing records for longer |
9. Keeping your data secure
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption in transit, access controls, and staff confidentiality obligations. Where you send us personal data, please never do so by email in an unencrypted attachment if it is sensitive; use our ticket system instead.
10. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data
- Erasure of your data, in some circumstances
- Restriction of processing, in some circumstances
- Object to processing based on legitimate interest or for direct marketing
- Data portability, to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
To exercise any of these rights, email hello@hostingme.co.uk. We will respond within one month. Some rights, such as erasure, may be limited where we have an overriding legal or contractual reason to keep the data, for example unpaid invoices or content we are legally required to retain.
11. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, email hello@hostingme.co.uk and we will try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we would appreciate the chance to resolve it directly first.
12. Children
Our Services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified by email to customers and by updating the date at the top of this page.