Privacy Policy
The short version
HOSTING123 (hosting123.org) is a review and guide site, not a data business. We do not require accounts, we do not sell personal data, and the information we handle is the minimum a website of this kind needs to run: server logs, aggregated analytics, cookies described in our Cookie Policy, and the emails you choose to send us. This page explains each of those in plain language, and then covers your rights.
Data we collect automatically
Server logs
Like nearly every website, our web server records basic technical data about each request: the IP address it came from, the page requested, the time, the referring page, and the browser’s user-agent string. We use these logs to keep the site working, to diagnose errors, and to detect abuse such as scraping or attack traffic. Logs are kept for a limited operational period and then deleted or reduced to aggregate statistics. We do not use server logs to build profiles of individual readers.
Analytics
We use analytics to understand which articles are read, roughly where traffic comes from, and which comparisons people find useful. This data is viewed in aggregate: we look at how many people read a review, not at what any individual person read. Where our analytics tooling supports it, IP addresses are truncated or anonymised. We do not run cross-site tracking of our own, and we do not combine analytics data with your email if you write to us.
Data you give us directly
If you write to support@hosting123.org, we receive your address and whatever you include in the message. We use it to reply and, where a message reports an error or describes an experience with a host, we may keep it as part of the record behind a correction or review update. We do not add correspondents to any marketing list, and we do not share reader emails with hosting companies. If your message is the basis for something we publish, we quote it only with your permission and without identifying you unless you ask to be identified.
Comments and submissions
If a page accepts comments or reader submissions, the text you post is public by design. Do not post account numbers, invoices, or other personal details in a public comment, even when describing a billing dispute: an email gives us the same information without publishing yours.
Affiliate links and third parties
Many outbound links on hosting123.org are affiliate links. When you click one, you leave our site and the destination, typically a hosting company or an affiliate network acting for it, may set its own cookies to attribute a later purchase to us. That tracking happens on their systems under their privacy policies, not ours, and we receive back only aggregate information: that a sale occurred and the commission owed, not your identity, your payment details, or what you bought beyond the plan category. The practical rule is simple: once you click through to a host, you are on their site and their policy applies. We link to well-known providers, but we cannot control what they do with data you give them, so read their policies before entering payment details anywhere.
Display advertising served on the site may involve advertising partners that use cookies or similar technologies, as described in the Cookie Policy. Where consent is required for such cookies, we ask for it before they are set.
What we do not do
- We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data. Our revenue is affiliate commissions and advertising, as described on the Ownership and Funding page, and neither requires selling reader data.
- We do not require registration to read anything on the site.
- We do not send marketing email to people who merely contacted us.
- We do not knowingly collect data from children. The site is written for adults making purchasing decisions, and we do not direct any part of it at children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, tell us and we will delete it.
Legal bases and retention
Where data protection law requires a legal basis, we rely on legitimate interests for server logs, security, and aggregate analytics; on consent where consent is asked for, such as non-essential cookies; and on our need to keep records where a message forms part of the evidence behind published content, such as a correction. We keep data no longer than needed for these purposes: logs on a short rotation, correspondence for as long as the related editorial record matters, and analytics in aggregate form.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access the personal data we hold about you, to correct it, to have it deleted, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to receive a copy in a portable format. In practice, the data we could hold about a reader is almost always limited to email correspondence and routine server logs. To exercise any of these rights, email support@hosting123.org with “Privacy” in the subject line. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law, and we may ask you to confirm control of the email address concerned before acting, which protects you from someone else requesting your data. You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority where the law provides one.
Security and transfers
The site is served over HTTPS, access to our systems is restricted to the small editorial team, and we apply the same scepticism to our own infrastructure that we apply to the hosts we review. Because we are a small online operation using established service providers, data may be processed on servers in more than one country; where that happens, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer under applicable data protection law.
Changes and contact
When this policy changes materially, we update this page and change the revision date rather than quietly rewriting history. Questions about anything here: support@hosting123.org. This policy is governed by the laws applicable where the operator is established.
