This Privacy Policy describes the information we collect from you, how we use that information and our legal basis for doing so. It covers whether and how we may share the information you or your team provided with and your rights and choices regarding the information you provide to us. 

Your Consent

By using our website, products, or services, you and your company or team are acknowledging that you have agreed to our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy, that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy, and that you consent to your information being used for the purposes and the manner described in this Privacy Policy. For children under the age of 16 to order or use our products or services, a parent or legal guardian must provide the consent mentioned above on their behalf. 

You may withdraw your consent of personal information by informing our management team at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions, upon reasonable notice. However, such a withdrawal may reduce our ability to provide you with certain products and services. For more information on the implications of withdrawing your consent or notify us of the withdrawal of your consent, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Data Protection Team. 

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What We Collect and Receive

We need to collect and process certain information to use our website, products, and services. Depending on your use of our website, products, and services, this may include the following types of information. 

General personal information

• Information you provide by completing forms on our website; your name, company name, email and mailing addresses, telephone number, login, and password details. We may ask you for this information if you register for an account on our website, order our products or services, subscribe to our newsletters, log in to our online “Client Area,” upload or submit content through our website (including the “Client Area”), or if you contact us.
• Information you provide for identity verification when contacting us or processing your payment. In some cases, our payment processor will request that you provide additional personal information to confirm your personal information and identity before payment can be processed.
• We may request your residency status or whether you are a member of specific organizations for particular domain name products and services. This information is required by certain domain name registries (e.g., Canadian Internet Registration Authority) to register your chosen domain name(s) with the registry.

Payment information

• Details of any transactions you make through our website, products, or services; as part of a transaction, we may collect and store payment information, including credit card or bank account details (as applicable), expiration date, and country, which we require for payment processing, tax, and regulatory purposes.
• We partner with other companies (such as PayPal) for payment processing, and the payment information you submit is collected and used by them following their privacy policies.

Statistical and cookie information

• Statistical information about the way visitors and users interact with our website, products, and services, in the form of website traffic analytics (i.e., Google Analytics). The analytics engine passively gathers visitor and user information, including your IP address, the type of device, operating system, and browser you use, and your activity on our website. This information helps us improve our website, products, and services, providing you with a more friendly and secure user experience. You can opt-out of having your data used by Google Analytics here.
• Cookies are small data files issued to your device when you visit a website and store information about your website use. URL query strings are small amounts of data transmitted as part of a URL (e.g., website address) when you click on a hyperlink or submit a form in an internet browser.
• We use cookies and other technologies (e.g., URL query strings) to help recognize you like a rapid purchaser or visitor to process items in your shopping cart. To recognize affiliates, save your preferences for future visits to our website and compile aggregate statistical data about website traffic and interactions (see above), allowing us to provide you with a more friendly and secure user experience.
• Cookies are stored in your device memory either over the long term (e.g., to retain your website preferences from visit-to-visit) or as a temporary file that will be cleared from your device memory when you close your internet browser. You may choose to turn off the use of cookies via your internet browser selections; however, our website, products, and services may no longer be available properly if you choose to turn off the use of cookies. You may still place orders over the telephone or by otherwise contacting Customer Service.

Communication history information

• Communications you send to us (e.g., technical support tickets, questions, or feedback).

Sensitive personal information

• We ask that you do not send or disclose any sensitive personal information, including social insurance or social security numbers, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, criminal background, or trade union membership.

User content

• User Content uploaded, collected, stored, used, transferred, or disclosed in connection with our website, products, or services. Such content includes website and email content connected with our web hosting, website creation, website security, email solutions and marketing products and services.

How We Use This Information

We use the information we collect from you for the following purposes: 

• To enable us to provide you with our website, products, and services.
• To process transactions in connection with our website, products, and services. After a transaction, we may keep your personal information (e.g., credit card or financial information) on file for facilitating automated renewals. You may request that your credit card or financial information be deleted from our system and files at any point by contacting us.
• To create and administer your account, contact you, and customize your experience on our website or while using our products or services.
• To keep your account secure and protect our website, products, and services (including to prevent fraud and abuse).
• To restore your account or data where it was accidentally or maliciously deleted, corrupted, or otherwise damaged.
• To improve customer service by helping us to respond to your customer service requests and support needs more effectively.
• To help promote our website, products, and services, if you’ve voluntarily provided a testimonial or review.
• To send you periodic emails concerning order information, product or service information, company news, promotions, and legal information.
• To track and analyze the use of our website, products, and services so we can improve them and provide you with the best experience possible.
• To meet regulatory requirements (e.g., tax laws).

European Union Users

Data protection law in Europe requires a “lawful basis” for collecting and retaining personal information from citizens or residents of the European Union. Our lawful bases include: 

• Performing the contract with you: We need your personal information to comply with our contractual obligation to deliver our products or services.
• Legal compliance: Sometimes, the law says we need to collect and use our data. For example, tax laws require us to retain records of payments made for our products and services.
• Legitimate interests: This is a technical term in data protection law that means we have a good and fair reason to use your data and do so in ways that do not hurt your interests and rights. We sometimes require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way that might reasonably be expected as part of running our business, and that does not materially impact your rights, freedom, or interests. For example, we may use identity, device, and location information to prevent fraud and abuse and keep our website, products, and services secure. We may also send you promotional communications about our products or services, subject to your right to control whether we do so.
• We analyze how users interact with our website, products, and services to understand better which design elements are working well or not. The analysis allows us to develop and improve our online experience.

How Your Information Is Shared

We respect your privacy. We do not disclose, sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to third parties without your prior consent, except as described below. 

Information that is shared publicly

We will not publicly display or reveal to other users your personally identifiable information without your explicit consent, except as described in this Privacy Policy.

 When you register for a domain name, we are obligated to transmit personal contact information (e.g., your name, address, telephone number, and email address) to the applicable domain name registrar for publication in the publicly accessible WHOIS database. Domain name registrants must provide and maintain accurate contact information in the WHOIS database. Unfortunately, as the WHOIS database is publicly accessible, it targets data harvesting by persons or organizations engaged in spam, fraud, and identity theft. Consequently, we offer you a Privacy Protection Service that will shield your personal information by making us your WHOIS trustee and listing our privacy team’s contact information instead of your own in the WHOIS database. The Privacy Protection service is available with most domain types during registration or transfer orders, but you may opt-out by unselecting the service during the order process. We highly recommend against opting out, but if you do so or register a domain type that does not support Privacy Protection, you accept that we will publicly disclose your personal contact information in the WHOIS database.

 We may use certain personal information for promotional purposes (e.g., testimonials on our website). When submitting testimonials through our website or our social media pages, you agree that your name may use testimonials and may use your website address without additional consent. Without your explicit consent, we will not publicly disclose any of your sensitive information, including your account information, payment information, or personal contact information.

We may provide non-personally identifiable visitors and user information to other parties for marketing, advertising, analytics, or similar purposes. 

Information that is not shared publicly

The following data will not be publicly displayed or revealed to other users, except as described in this Privacy Policy:

• Your personal information, including your contact information, residency or membership status, and password details.
• Your payment information, including credit card details and transaction history.
• Your communication history information, including any communications you send to us (e.g., technical support tickets, questions, or feedback).
• Your sensitive personal information.

Information that is shared with trusted third-party services

We may share your information with certain trusted third-party services to help us improve, promote, or protect our website, products, and services. When we share data with third-party services that support our products and services, we require that they use your information only for authorized purposes. We may also share aggregated and anonymized information not directly to identify you. 

 Our trusted third-party partners include:

• Datacenter and data hosting providers. 
• Domain name registrars and registries (e.g., Canadian Internet Registration Authority).
• Payment processors (e.g., PayPal). 
• Server Software providers (e.g., cPanel).
• Customer support service providers.
• Website builder and the search engine optimization service providers (e.g., RankingCoach).
• SSL certificate and website protection service providers.
• Email distribution and marketing service providers.
• Analytics processors (e.g., Google Analytics).

Information that is shared to protect WHC and comply with the law

We reserve the right to disclose personal information when we believe that doing so is reasonably necessary to comply with the law or law enforcement, prevent fraud or abuse, or protect the rights, property, or safety of WHC, its employees, and users, or others. 

Links to other websites and services

Our website, products, or services may include links to other websites, products, or services (“External Websites“) whose privacy practices may differ from our own. When you use a link to an External Website, the privacy policy and data processing disclosures for that External Website govern. We assume no responsibility or liability for the interaction with and activities. We seek to protect the integrity of our website, products, and services and the safety of our users. We welcome any feedback that would help us, including external websites. 

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Retention

We will retain your information as long as your account is active, as is necessary to provide you with our products or services, or as otherwise outlined in this Privacy Policy.

 We may retain backups of your hosting account content for up to 9 months after your hosting service is cancelled or terminated. We may use Backups to restore your data or account if the data or report is accidentally or maliciously deleted, corrupted, or otherwise damaged. If you wish to have your information deleted before the end of the period mentioned above, please get in touch with our Data Protection Team.

 We will also retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and protect our legal rights.

 We also collect and maintain aggregated, anonymized, or pseudonymized information, which we may retain indefinitely to protect the safety and security of our website, products, and services, improve them, or comply with legal obligations. 

Data Transfers

Your personal information will be collected and stored in Canada, except as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy. However, we work with trusted third-party service providers (e.g., domain name registrars and registries) worldwide to provide you with our products and services. Consequently, we may transfer some of your personal information to other countries for processing. We conform to industry standards to help ensure that your privacy is protected and that any transfers of personal data are safeguarded during transit and at the recipient processor.

 These third-party countries have laws governing data protection and government access to information. The rules that protect your personal information under these laws may be different than in your home country.

 If you choose to use our website, products, or services, you must agree to our Terms of Service, which set out the contract between WHC and you. Further, you consent to have the necessary personal information transferred to trusted third-party service providers located in Canada and other countries for processing to provide you with the products and services for which you have contracted us. 

Your Rights

Users residing in certain countries, including Canada and European Union member states, are afforded certain rights regarding their personal information. Except where an exception or exemption applies, these rights include your ability to access, correct, and request deletion of your personal information. While these rights are not applicable globally, all users of our products or services can manage and revise their personal information in the “Client Area” on our website or by contacting Customer Service. We may request that you provide us with personal information to verify your identity before disclosing, changing, or deleting any personal data related to your account.

 To modify or delete the personal information you have provided to us, please log in to the “Client Area” and update your profile or contact Customer Service.

 To request an electronic copy of your personal information, please contact Customer Service.

 To delete your account, please get in touch with Customer Service. We may retain certain information as required by law or as necessary for our legitimate business purposes.

 To opt-out of having your personal information disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes, please get in touch with our Data Protection Team.

 Residents of European Union member states have the right to restrict or object to the processing of their personal information under certain circumstances (e.g., to contest the accuracy of the data). They have the right to object to processing their personal information for direct marketing purposes. To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Team.

 Residents of European Union member states have the right to complain about a supervisory authority (e.g., privacy office) in the country where they live, where they work, or where any alleged infringement took place if they consider that the processing of their personal information has infringed European Union privacy law. 

Email Notifications

We may send you an email regarding your order information, product or service information, company news, promotions, and legal information.

 We want to communicate with you only if you want to hear from us. We try to keep emails to a minimum and allow you to opt into any marketing communications we send. You may opt-out of receiving marketing email communications by following the detailed unsubscribe instructions located at the bottom of each email or by contacting Customer Service and requesting to opt-out.

 From time to time, we may provide you with necessary information (e.g., service-related announcements or legal information) to which you will not be able to opt-out. 

Security

We take security seriously, and the security of your personal information is important to us. We employ various security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order with us or access your personal information. 

• Your personal information is stored on secure servers or in secure file storage.
• All sensitive/credit information supplied via our website is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our database, only to be accessed by authorized personnel.

 No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is entirely secure, so we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Your account information is protected by a password, which you should choose carefully and keep safe. If you disclose your password to a third party, you may lose considerable control over your personal information, and you may risk that legally binding actions be taken on your behalf. If the security of your password has been compromised, for whatever reason, you should change it immediately.

 We encourage the responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities of our website, products, or services by contacting our Data Protection Team. 

Children

You must be 13 years of age or older to register with us. We will not knowingly collect any personal information from children under 13. However, if a child under the age of 13 provides us with personal data upon written request by a parent or legal guardian, we will delete this information from our files.

 If you are under the age of 16, before you may order or use our products or services, your parent or legal guardian must provide written consent on your behalf to our Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and this Privacy Policy. In particular, your parent or legal guardian must consent to your information being used for the purposes and the manner described in this Privacy Policy. 

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to adapt it to our company, products and services, and legal requirements. We will notify you of any material changes either by displaying a notification on our website or emailing you. Any continued use of our website, products, or services after any changes to our Privacy Policy will mean that you accept the updated Privacy Policy.