Effective Date: February 11, 2010
VA Hosting has created this Privacy Policy to record and explain our commitment to privacy, and as an agreement with our customers and with other third parties about our data-handling. This policy lists the types of potentially private data VA Hosting collects, explains how we use and protect that data, and discloses our key procedures surrounding privacy.
The privacy of VA Hosting's customers and affiliates is important to us. We do not sell or rent personally identifiable information. We do not spam, and our policies forbid use of the Service for spam.
Data That VA Hosting Collects
VA Hosting collects and uses data from our customers, and from visitors to our websites, as follows:
- Visitor Number Tracking: VA Hosting tracks the number of visitors to VA Hosting's websites, as well as the pages they visit within the sites and the hyperlinks they use (if any) to leave. This doesn't involve collection of any personally identifiable information. We use this information to analyze interest in and usage of the websites and the Service.
- Customer Account Information: When customers sign up for the Service, and during their Service-relationship, we collect some or all of the following: company name, individual name, address, telephone number(s), email address(es), credit card number, and choice of service package. We also record and retain most written communications with customers, including trouble tickets, support requests, and payment history. VA Hosting uses this information for customer support. We also use contact information to send customers Service-related announcements, including notices of new Service features and related products and service-related maintenance announcements. Customers can opt out of new product/service notices by contacting VA Hosting support. Finally, we generate statistical information regarding our customer base and use it to analyze our business. We might share this statistical information with third parties, but it doesn't include any personally identifiable information.
VA Hosting also tracks the IP addresses of computers communicating (via email or any other mechanism) with our systems. Data described in the preceding sentence may include personally identifiable information, including information belonging to our customers' own customers and their website visitors. VA Hosting uses this data solely to maintain the security of the Service.
Hosted Data
Through the Service, VA Hosting provides computing and network infrastructure that hosts customer websites, Internet communications, and other applications. As a result, our infrastructure stores and transmits information about customers' businesses, as well as information collected by those businesses. We refer to all such information that we do not actively collect as "Hosted Data." Hosted Data may include personally identifiable information and other information that belongs to our customers' own customers, Website visitors, or other users.
VA Hosting is a passive recipient of Hosted Data: we take no active part in collecting it, and generally we do not access its content. However, VA Hosting staff may occasionally access Hosted Data through delivery of services and support to customers. For instance, staff may come into contact with Hosted Data by verifying backup and restore processes, by verifying that applications are running properly, or through debugging efforts.
Use of Personally Identifiable Information and Hosted Data
VA Hosting doesn't share personally identifiable information or Hosted Data under any circumstances, except:
- as requested by law enforcement agencies or required by law
- to legally register a third-party resource provided by VA Hosting to one of its customers such as an internet domain or website SSL certificate
- to maintain the security of the Service and of VA Hosting's own network and data, including by assisting third-party claimants in investigating security breaches
- to collect money owed to VA Hosting, including through legal proceedings
- to identify, contact, or take legal action against customers or third parties violating VA Hosting's Acceptable Use Policy, interfering with property rights or with the Service, or breaking the law.
VA Hosting doesn't access or use Hosted Data except through provision of debugging and related services, as described under "Hosted Data" above, and for the reasons listed in the preceding sentence.
Data Protection
VA Hosting takes precautions to ensure that access to databases containing customer information is available only from within VA Hosting's internal network or through our sales and billing systems. Further, we typically encrypt financial information during transmission, or use secure protocols. No protocol, encryption, or other precaution can provide complete security for electronic data, so we don't provide a guarantee of security.
Changing Account Information
Customers can change their account information by contacting VA Hosting support.
Not Applicable to Third-Party Data Handlers
This Privacy Policy doesn't address use of data by our customers or by other third parties, even if the data is stored on one of VA Hosting's computers or collected through a website we host (Hosted Data), or collected through a website linked to our websites. VA Hosting is not responsible for use or misuse of data by any third party, including any VA Hosting customer or the operator of a website linked to one of our websites.