Terms of serviceEvery clause, with a plain reading beside it.
Terms are written to be unreadable and then relied on in the one argument that matters. The right-hand column here is not a summary filed somewhere else — it sits beside each clause, and where the two could be read differently, the plain reading governs.
Terms of service are written to be unreadable and then relied on in the one argument that matters. So the right-hand column here is not a summary filed somewhere else — it sits beside each clause and it binds us the same way. Where the two could be read differently, the plain reading governs.
Three documents form part of this agreement and are not restated here: the acceptable use policy, the privacy and logging policy and the uptime SLA. Two copies of a promise is one copy too many the first time somebody edits only one of them.
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1
Who you are contracting with
Your agreement is with the DediPrivacy entity operating the region your service is provisioned in, listed below. Each entity contracts separately and is liable only for the services it provides. No other entity is a party to your agreement, guarantor of it, or bound by a judgment against another.
In plain words
Eight companies, not one. If you buy in Reykjavík your counterparty is the Icelandic company, and a ruling against the Panamanian one does not touch it. That separation is why it is arranged this way.
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2
What we need from you
An email address capable of receiving service notices, and a balance sufficient for the services you order. You warrant that you are legally able to enter this agreement. No identity documentation is collected, requested or retained at any stage.
In plain words
An address and money. We do not ask who you are and we have no process that could act on the answer, at any amount and at any time.
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3
Balance, charges and renewal
Services are funded from a prepaid balance. Charges are applied on the renewal date of each service and not before. Where the balance is insufficient, you are notified before the renewal date; a service is not destroyed on the day it lapses. Balance does not expire and is not forfeited for inactivity.
In plain words
Nothing is taken early and nothing is taken by surprise. Run out of balance and you get told first, with time to act.
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4
Cancellation and refunds
You may cancel at any time; a service runs to the end of the term already paid for. A service that materially fails to work as described is refunded in full to your balance. Unused balance is returned on request in an asset of your choice to an address you provide, except where the account was terminated under clause 7.
In plain words
Prepaid terms are discounted because they are prepaid, so cancelling early does not buy the months back. But if the thing does not work, you get your money, without an argument about how many days you used it.
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5
What you may host
All lawful content, subject only to the two prohibitions and the network conduct rules set out in the acceptable use policy, which forms part of this agreement. That policy is exhaustive as to content. No clause of these terms creates a further content restriction, and none may be implied from any general provision.
In plain words
Two things are forbidden and the list does not grow. There is deliberately no catch-all clause anywhere in this document letting us terminate you for something we simply disliked.
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6
Complaints and legal process
Complaints are handled under the published abuse process. Content is removed only on an order from a court with jurisdiction over the entity that hosts it. You are notified of any complaint or order concerning your service, with the complainant identified, unless an order expressly forbids notification.
In plain words
A notice is not an order and it does not take anything down. You get told, with the name of whoever complained, and you get fourteen days.
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7
Suspension and termination
We may suspend or terminate a service immediately and without notice where it is used for either prohibited category. For sustained network abuse we may suspend after notice and a reasonable opportunity to remedy. In every other case a service ends only at your request or at the end of its paid term.
In plain words
Two categories end it the same hour. Everything else gets a conversation and evidence you can look at first.
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8
Availability and credits
We target the availability figure published in the uptime SLA, measured on network reachability per region. Where a monthly figure falls below the target, credits are applied to your balance automatically from the published incident record, without a claim being filed. Credits are the sole remedy for unavailability.
In plain words
If we miss it, we pay you, computed from the same public record you can read yourself. You do not have to notice, and there is no form.
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9
Your data
You retain all rights in your content. We claim no licence over it beyond what is technically necessary to store and serve it at your direction. Records held about your account are limited to the inventory published in the privacy policy, which forms part of this agreement.
In plain words
Your data is yours. The complete list of what we hold about you is published, and it is short enough to read in a minute.
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10
Security and backups
You are responsible for the security and configuration of services under your control, and for maintaining your own backups. Snapshots are a convenience and are not a backup service. We do not hold keys to content you have encrypted and cannot recover it for you.
In plain words
We keep the machine running; what runs on it is yours to secure. If you encrypt a disk we cannot read it, which also means we cannot rescue it.
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11
Liability
Our aggregate liability in respect of any service is limited to the charges paid for that service in the twelve months preceding the claim. Neither party is liable for indirect or consequential loss, including loss of profit, revenue or data. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
In plain words
The cap is what you paid us for the thing that failed. This is standard across the industry, and we would rather state it plainly than bury it.
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12
Changes to these terms
Substantive changes are published with at least thirty days' notice before they take effect, and existing services continue on the terms in force when they were ordered until their current term ends. Changes are never applied retroactively or silently.
In plain words
Thirty days, in public, and what you already bought keeps the deal you bought it under. A term that can change quietly is not a term.
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13
Governing law
Each agreement is governed by the law of the jurisdiction of the contracting entity, and the courts of that jurisdiction have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from it.
In plain words
The law of the country you chose when you picked the region. It is the same court a complainant would have to convince, which is the point.
The contracting entities
Clause 1
Reykjavík
Bucharest
Sofia
Chișinău
Zurich
Amsterdam
Panama City
SingaporeWhich one you contract with is decided by the region you pick, and every region costs the same — so the choice is a legal one rather than a budget one. What each jurisdiction actually protects you from is set out on the locations page, and what any of these companies can be made to produce is on the law-enforcement guide.