Privacy Policy

Connect Hosting LTD (Company No. 14211501) ("we", "us", "our") is committed to safeguarding the privacy of our customers and website visitors. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights under UK data protection law including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data Controller: Connect Hosting LTD, registered in England and Wales.
Registered Address: Office 007, Enterprise Centre, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX
Contact: support@connecthosting.net

1. What Data We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

• Account data: Name, email address, password (hashed), country, and billing currency when you register
• Billing data: Payment method details are processed by Stripe and PayPal — we store only a reference token, last four digits, and expiry date. We never store your full card number.
• Support data: Messages, attachments, and metadata from support tickets
• Communication data: Emails and messages you send us

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, clicks, time spent, referral source
• Device data: IP address, browser type, operating system, screen resolution
• Server data: Game server logs, player counts, resource usage (CPU, RAM, disk) for service delivery and abuse prevention
• Security data: Login timestamps, IP addresses, failed login attempts, 2FA status, session identifiers
• Cookie data: See our Cookie Policy for details

1.3 Information from Third Parties

• Payment providers: Stripe and PayPal share transaction confirmations, payment status, and fraud signals with us
• Discord: If you link your Discord account, we receive your Discord user ID, username, and guild membership (with your explicit consent)
• Game platforms: Player identifiers (e.g. BeamMP authentication keys) when connecting to game servers

2. How We Use Your Data

We process your data on the following legal bases:

2.1 Contract Performance

• Creating and managing your account
• Provisioning and managing your game servers
• Processing payments and issuing invoices
• Providing customer support
• Sending service-critical emails (billing reminders, renewal notices, security alerts)

2.2 Legitimate Interests

• Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, and security threats
• Monitoring service performance and infrastructure health
• Improving our platform, features, and user experience
• Internal analytics and business reporting
• Enforcing our Terms of Service

2.3 Consent

• Marketing emails and promotional communications (opt-in only)
• Non-essential cookies and analytics tracking
• Discord account linking

2.4 Legal Obligation

• Tax and accounting records
• Responding to lawful requests from authorities
• GDPR compliance (data subject requests)

3. Who We Share Data With

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with:

• Stripe & PayPal — Payment processing
• Infrastructure providers — Server hosting (OVH, Hetzner, or similar) for service delivery. They process data as sub-processors under our instructions.
• Pterodactyl panel — Self-hosted game server management (no third-party data sharing)
• Resend — Transactional email delivery
• Sentry — Error tracking (anonymised where possible)
• Inngest — Background job processing (server provisioning, billing automation)
• Cloudflare — CDN, DDoS protection, DNS
• Partners — If you purchase through a Connect Hosting partner, that partner can see your order and service details relevant to their reseller account

All third-party processors are bound by data processing agreements and process data only on our instructions.

4. International Transfers

Your data is primarily stored on servers in the UK and EU. Some third-party processors (Stripe, Sentry, Inngest) may process data in the United States under Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent safeguards approved by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

5. Data Retention

• Account data: Retained while your account is active, plus 12 months after deletion request (for fraud prevention and legal compliance)
• Billing & invoice data: Retained for 7 years (UK tax and accounting requirements)
• Server data & logs: Deleted within 30 days of service termination
• Support tickets: Retained for 24 months after resolution, then anonymised or deleted
• Security logs: Retained for 12 months
• Marketing consent records: Retained for as long as consent is active, plus 12 months

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification — Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Erasure — Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to legal retention requirements
• Portability — Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Restriction — Restrict processing in certain circumstances
• Objection — Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email support@connecthosting.net or use the data management tools in your account settings. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.

7. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS) and at rest where applicable
• Hashed and salted passwords (bcrypt)
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) available for all accounts
• Role-based access controls for staff
• Regular security logging and monitoring
• Webhook signature verification for all payment events

No system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a data breach that affects your rights, we will notify you and the ICO as required by law.

8. Children

Our services are not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If we discover we have collected data from a child under 16 without appropriate consent, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal data, please contact us.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or a notice on our website. The "last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

10. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your data rights:

• Email: support@connecthosting.net
• Support: connecthosting.net/support
• Address: Office 007, Enterprise Centre, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX