Backups and Data Retention

1. What we back up#

For every site we host, we back up regularly: the website database, uploaded files, mailboxes, and the configuration that defines the site, its DNS and its mail. We don't back up things stored outside your site, content on third-party services, or material you deleted before a backup ran.

2. When#

Backups run automatically, outside business hours, and we take one immediately before any destructive operation we perform (such as removing a site). We can't guarantee a backup exists for any exact moment — work done and deleted between two runs may not be recoverable.

3. Retention#

How long we keep backups, and how quickly we restore them, is set out in your offer — it depends on what your setup actually needs. Once a backup ages out it's deleted and can't be retrieved.

4. How backups are stored#

Backups are encrypted at rest and kept within the European Union.

Where they are held today: on the same server as the sites they protect. An off-site copy is built into our tooling but is not yet switched on, so a backup does not currently survive the loss of the machine itself. We'd rather say that plainly than let you assume more protection than you have.

That means we are covered for what actually goes wrong most of the time — a bad deploy, a corrupted database, a file or mailbox deleted by accident, something we broke ourselves — and not covered if the server itself is destroyed. That is the scenario that cost customers their data in Strasbourg in 2021: those with a copy in another building recovered, those without did not.

Once the off-site copy is running it will be held in a different datacentre within the European Union and encrypted with a key we control, so that provider can't read it. We'll rewrite and date this section on the day that is true.

One honest limit worth stating plainly: no backup arrangement covers every possible disaster — a large enough event can destroy primary systems and backups together. If your business genuinely could not survive losing its website or email, keep your own independent copy as well. That's sound advice with any host, and it matters more here until the off-site copy is running. We'll help you set it up at no charge — just ask.

5. Restoring#

You can ask for a restore through any support channel. A restore replaces current data with the backup, so anything created since that backup is lost — we always confirm in writing before proceeding. Where we caused the data loss, restoring it is free. Any other restore terms are set out in your offer.

6. Testing#

An untested backup isn't really a backup. We test restores by restoring to a clean environment and checking the result, and we record what we find. We're not going to quote you a testing frequency we haven't been running to yet — where you need a specific testing commitment, we'll set it out in your offer.

7. Limits#

We don't warrant that data can be recovered in every circumstance — backups can fail and media can corrupt. Backups protect against our failures and most incidents; they're not a substitute for records you're legally required to keep yourself (tax, medical, professional). Those obligations are yours, and our backups aren't designed to satisfy them. Our liability for data loss is limited as set out in Terms §8.

8. Deletion#

On termination, see Terms §5.6–5.9: your export is available for 30 days, data is retained for a further 60 days in case of dispute, then permanently deleted. Backups containing deleted data age out on their normal cycle — we don't selectively purge individual clients from historical backups, as that would compromise their integrity. On a GDPR erasure request, we delete from live systems immediately; backups then age out within their normal cycle, during which the data isn't used for anything.

9. Security incidents#

If a personal data breach affects you, we notify you without undue delay and within 72 hours, per GDPR Art. 33 — telling you what happened, what data was affected, what we're doing, and what you should do.