These Terms of Service (the "Terms") form a binding agreement between you ("you", "the Customer") and DrivenHost ("DrivenHost", "we", "us"). By ordering, paying for, or using any DrivenHost service you accept these Terms together with the Acceptable Use Policy, Privacy Policy, Service Level Agreement and Refund and Cancellation Policy, which are incorporated by reference. If you are accepting on behalf of a company, you confirm you have authority to bind it.
1. Definitions
"Services" means any product DrivenHost provides to you, including web hosting, business email, virtual and dedicated servers, reseller hosting, domain registration, migrations and support. "Account" means the billing and access credentials under which Services are provided. "Content" means anything you store, transmit or publish using the Services. "End User" means anyone who accesses Content or Services through your Account, including your own customers if you resell.
2. The Services
DrivenHost provides the Services described on its website and in your order confirmation. Specifications such as storage, bandwidth, mailbox size and server resources are set out on the relevant product page at the time of order. We may improve, modify or replace features from time to time; where a change materially reduces what you are paying for, we will give you at least 30 days' notice and the option to cancel with a pro-rated refund of any prepaid unused period.
Where a plan is described as "unlimited" or "unmetered", that means we do not meter the named resource for ordinary use of the type the plan is sold for (for example, serving a business website). It does not mean the Service may be used for storage, backup, file distribution, streaming or any purpose that would consume a disproportionate share of shared infrastructure. See the Acceptable Use Policy.
3. Account and security
You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and for all activity under your Account, whether or not you authorised it. Notify us immediately at the support address if you believe your Account has been compromised. You must keep your contact details, especially your email address, accurate; notices sent to the email address on file are deemed received.
You are responsible for the security of any software you install or run, including content management systems, plugins and scripts. Outdated or vulnerable software that is exploited may be disabled by us to protect other customers, and we will tell you when that happens.
4. Your Content
You retain all rights in your Content. You grant DrivenHost only the limited licence needed to store, transmit, back up and display it in order to provide the Services. You are solely responsible for your Content and for ensuring it is lawful, that you hold all necessary rights and licences (including for any third-party software you install), and that it complies with the Acceptable Use Policy. We do not pre-screen Content, but we may remove or disable access to Content that we reasonably believe breaches these Terms or the law, with notice where practicable.
5. Support
Support is provided by email and through the client area, 24 hours a day, for matters relating to the Services and the platform. Reasonable assistance with your own applications is provided at our discretion. By opening a support request you authorise our engineers to access your Account and files as needed to resolve it. We may decline or limit support where an Account has been compromised through the Customer's actions, where third-party software has been modified in unsupported ways, or where a request is abusive toward staff.
6. Backups and data
We take backups of shared, reseller and managed server Accounts daily and retain them for 30 days, and we test restores monthly. Backups are a safety net, not an archive: you are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything you cannot afford to lose. Unmanaged servers are backed up only where the plan includes snapshots or you have enabled them. Backups are deleted within 30 days of an Account being closed.
7. Migrations
We will migrate websites, databases, mailboxes and DNS from your previous provider at no charge when you open an Account, and at our discretion thereafter. You must ensure we have valid access to the source and that the source provider permits the transfer. We make reasonable efforts to move everything intact but cannot guarantee compatibility of every application, and we are not liable for data that the source does not make available.
8. Fees, billing and renewals
Fees are stated in United States dollars unless your invoice says otherwise, and exclude applicable taxes, which are added to the invoice. Services are billed in advance for the term you select. The renewal price of a Service is the same as its current list price for that plan; we do not offer introductory rates that increase on renewal. We will give at least 30 days' notice by email of any change to list prices, which takes effect at your next renewal.
Services renew automatically at the end of each term unless you cancel through the client area before the renewal date. Invoices are issued 14 days before they are due. An Account with an invoice more than 7 days overdue may be suspended; one more than 30 days overdue may be terminated and its data deleted after the retention period in section 6. A reactivation fee may apply to suspended Accounts. You remain responsible for any fees incurred before termination and for reasonable collection costs.
You must use only payment methods you are authorised to use. If a payment is reversed or charged back, we may suspend the Account until the matter is resolved and may charge a reasonable administrative fee. If you believe an invoice is wrong, contact us within 60 days of the invoice date and we will review it. Promotional codes apply only where their stated conditions are met and may be withdrawn if misused.
9. Domain names
Domain registrations are provided through an accredited registrar and are subject to the Domain Registration Agreement and the policies of the relevant registry. Domain fees are non-refundable once the registration has been submitted. Domains renew automatically before expiry unless auto-renewal is disabled; we send courtesy reminders but it is your responsibility to ensure renewal is paid.
10. Term, cancellation and termination
You may cancel any Service at any time through the client area; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current term unless you request immediate cancellation. Refunds are governed by the Refund and Cancellation Policy.
We may suspend or terminate a Service or Account, with notice where practicable, if you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, fail to pay, use the Services in a way that harms other customers or our infrastructure, or where we are required to by law or a competent authority. We may also discontinue a Service on 60 days' notice, in which case you will receive a pro-rated refund of any unused prepaid period.
On termination, your right to use the Services ends. You are responsible for exporting your Content before the Account closes; we will provide reasonable assistance on request within the retention period.
11. Service levels
Our uptime commitment and the credits available if we miss it are set out in the Service Level Agreement. Service credits are your sole remedy for downtime.
12. Warranties and disclaimers
Except as expressly stated in these Terms and the Service Level Agreement, the Services are provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law we disclaim all other warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, that Content will be secure or not lost, or that the Services will meet your requirements.
13. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, DrivenHost's total liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Services in any 12-month period is limited to the fees you paid to DrivenHost for the affected Service in that period. In no event will DrivenHost be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill or business opportunity, however arising. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
14. Indemnity
You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless DrivenHost and its personnel from any third-party claim, loss or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your Content, your use of the Services, your breach of these Terms or the law, or the acts of your End Users.
15. Resellers
If you resell the Services, you are responsible for your End Users' compliance with these Terms and the Acceptable Use Policy, for providing first-line support to them, and for all fees on your Account regardless of whether your End Users pay you. You may not represent that DrivenHost is party to any agreement with your End Users.
16. Intellectual property
DrivenHost and its licensors own the Services, the platform, the control panels and all related software and documentation. These Terms grant you no rights in them other than the right to use them as part of the Services. Copyright complaints are handled under our Copyright and Takedown Policy.
17. Privacy and data protection
Our collection and use of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy. Where you store personal data of others using the Services and require a data processing agreement, our Data Processing Addendum applies.
18. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. Material changes will be notified by email or in the client area at least 30 days before they take effect; continued use after that date is acceptance. The current version is always at drivenhost.com/legal.
19. Where your data lives
DrivenHost operates infrastructure in Canada, the United States and the European Union. Each Service is provisioned in the region shown on the product page or chosen at order time, and Content stays in that region except for encrypted off-site backups, which may be stored in another of those regions, and support access from wherever our engineers are located. Customers with a requirement that Content remain in a specific region should select that region at order time and may ask us to confirm backup locations in writing.
20. Export controls and sanctions
You may not use the Services in breach of Canadian, United States or European Union export control or sanctions laws, and you confirm you are not located in, or acting on behalf of a person in, a country or on a list that those laws prohibit us from serving.
21. Consumer rights
If you are a consumer (an individual acting outside your trade or business) in a jurisdiction whose law gives you rights that cannot be excluded by contract, including under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, the consumer laws of a US state, or EU consumer law, nothing in these Terms limits those rights, and where these Terms conflict with them the law prevails. EU consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal from distance contracts; our 30-day guarantee in the Refund and Cancellation Policy exceeds it, and by requesting that a Service be provisioned immediately you acknowledge that the withdrawal right does not cover the value of Service already provided.
22. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable there, and the courts of Ontario have exclusive jurisdiction, without prejudice to either party's right to seek injunctive relief anywhere. If you are a consumer resident in the European Union, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence, and you retain the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of that country. If you are a consumer resident in the United States, nothing in this section limits any non-waivable right to bring a claim in your local courts, including small claims court.
23. General
If any provision is unenforceable it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder will continue in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign this agreement without our consent; we may assign it to a successor of our business. These Terms, with the documents incorporated by reference and your order, are the entire agreement between us and supersede any prior discussions. Notices to DrivenHost should be sent to the legal contact address published on the Contact page.