Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

HostMeerkat is committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about how it is used. This Privacy Policy applies to visitors, prospects, customers, authorised account users, and support contacts who interact with our website, client portal, hosting services, billing systems, support channels, and related communications.

Because hosting services can involve server logs, account records, billing details, support diagnostics, and security monitoring, we only collect information that is necessary to provide, secure, improve, and administer our services.

2. Who We Are

For the purposes of UK data protection law, HostMeerkat is the controller for customer account, billing, support, marketing, and website analytics data that we determine how and why to process.

For customer content hosted on our infrastructure, such as website files, databases, emails, and application data uploaded by customers, HostMeerkat usually acts as a processor and processes that content only in line with the customer's instructions, our service terms, and applicable law.

3. Information We Collect

We may collect account information, contact details, billing records, payment status information, support ticket content, domain or service configuration details, fraud prevention signals, device and browser information, IP addresses, server logs, usage data, and communications you send to us.

• Account data: name, business name, email address, phone number, postal address, login details, and authorised contacts.
• Service data: domains, hosting package, server identifiers, IP addresses, DNS records, bandwidth usage, backups, and technical diagnostics.
• Billing data: invoices, transaction references, payment method type, payment status, VAT or tax details, and fraud screening data.
• Support data: ticket messages, chat messages, screenshots, access notes, and troubleshooting records.
• Website data: cookies, analytics events, referral pages, browser type, operating system, approximate location, and interaction data.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data to create and manage accounts, provide hosting services, process orders and renewals, verify payments, deliver technical support, maintain service security, prevent abuse, monitor platform reliability, send service notices, handle complaints, and meet legal or regulatory obligations.

Where you have opted in, or where the law allows us to do so, we may also send relevant product updates, renewal reminders, hosting tips, and promotional offers. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time.

5. Lawful Bases for Processing

Depending on the context, we rely on one or more lawful bases, including performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, legitimate interests, consent, and steps taken at your request before entering into a contract.

Our legitimate interests include securing our network, preventing fraud and abuse, improving service performance, responding to support requests, protecting our business, and communicating with customers about active services.

6. Information Sharing

We do not sell personal data. We may share data with trusted service providers that help us operate our hosting business, including data centre partners, payment processors, fraud prevention providers, domain registrars, support tools, email delivery providers, analytics services, security vendors, professional advisers, and authorities where legally required.

Where a supplier processes personal data on our behalf, we require appropriate confidentiality, security, and data protection commitments.

7. Data Security

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, misuse, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure credentials, encryption where appropriate, monitoring, firewall protection, malware scanning, backups, staff access restrictions, and incident response procedures.

No internet service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Customers are responsible for keeping their account credentials safe, using strong passwords, applying updates to hosted applications, and managing authorised users carefully.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including providing services, maintaining business records, resolving disputes, enforcing agreements, meeting accounting and tax obligations, and protecting our network from fraud or abuse.

Hosting account records, invoices, and support history may be retained after service closure where required for legal, tax, security, or legitimate business reasons. Customer-hosted content is generally removed or overwritten according to the applicable service cancellation, suspension, backup, and deletion procedures.

9. Your Data Protection Rights

Subject to applicable conditions and exemptions, you may have the right to access your personal data, request correction, request erasure, restrict processing, object to processing, request data portability, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, and complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

To exercise your rights, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep the website and client area working, remember preferences, improve performance, understand website usage, support security, and where enabled, measure marketing effectiveness.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect website or client portal functionality.

11. International Transfers

Our primary market is the United Kingdom, but some suppliers or technical systems may process data outside the UK. Where international transfers occur, we use appropriate safeguards where required, such as adequacy arrangements, contractual protections, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms.

12. Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for business users and individuals who are old enough to enter into a hosting agreement. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children for account registration or service purchase purposes.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, security practices, or business operations. The latest version will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.