We understand that privacy and data protection are perhaps two essential elements of any business. Customers trust businesses that show strong initiatives in implementing data protection measures and safeguard their personal information.
With GDPR on the horizon, the importance of data privacy laws and how we apply them in proper context is an essential element for your continued trust on the Cloudways services.
We already sent out an email to our users which covered the important points of how we are getting Cloudways GDPR ready. In particular, we presented the highlights of the updated Privacy Policy (effective from May 25, 2018) and Terms of Service.
We anticipated a lot of questions from our customers and thus decided to create this FAQ blog to cater to the most important questions.
What is General Data Processing Regulation (GDPR)?
GDPR is the EU wide regulation for protecting the way in which businesses collect and share information from and about customers of EU. The law will go into effect on May 25, 2018.
The aim of the law is to protect the legal rights of the individuals and give them more control over the way in which personal information is processed. The law asks businesses to comply with the requirements of setting up security measures to ensure that the personal information they collect is secure and properly used without compromising the integrity of the users’ information.
GDPR applies to:
- All EU based entities and individuals, and
- All entities and individuals (whether located inside or outside the EU) that collect, process, and/or use the personal information and data of individuals located inside the EU.
As defined by GDPR, personal data is any information that:
- Directly identifies an individual (including but not limited to names, physical addresses,
- and email addresses)
- Indirectly identify an individual (including but not limited to IP addresses, social media information, and financial information)
GDPR applies to all Cloudways customers including individuals, bloggers, developers, and agencies (whether located inside or outside the EU) who collect and process EU personal data and information.
What is Cloudways’ Role Under GDPR?
As defined by GDPR, Cloudways acts both as a Data Controller and Data Processor.
Cloudways acts as a Data Processor for all EU personal information that our customers process using Cloudways Products and Services. A good example of Cloudways role as data processor is when customers upload and process EU personal data on Cloudways managed servers. In this role, we comply both with the instructions of our customers and the legal obligations that apply to the GDPR data processors.
Cloudways acts as a Data Controller for all EU personal information and data that we collect through website www.cloudways.com and/or any sub-website and/or associated domains (and/or sub-domains) of www.cloudways.com. This includes all the information that we require to deliver our services and offer prompt customer support.
What Have We Done to Comply with GDPR?
We initiated a detailed survey of our operations and processes to identify areas for GDPR compliance. Working with external partners, we have revised our policies and relationships with third-party service providers to ensure GDPR compliance. Furthermore, we have also revised our Privacy Policy and prepared a DPA for our customers.
What Personal Data does Cloudways Collect and Store?
We collect and store information that our customers provide us at various points of contact on the Cloudways website and/or associated domains. This information may include contact information, registration data, marketing data, tracking data, and financial information. For better understanding and more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
What is Cloudways’ Data Processing Agreement (DPA)?
Our customers who handle personal information of EU residents are required to comply with the security and privacy measures laid down by GDPR. Cloudways DPA outlines the security measures that we have in place.
All our customers who process and collect EU personal information or employ/use services/platforms/vendors that process and collect EU personal information should sign our DPA. We strongly encourage all our customers to share this document with the relevant stakeholders and business partners to ensure complete compliance with GDPR. Find Cloudways DPA here.
Once you have read and signed the DPA, please email it to [email protected].
Does Cloudways Transmit EU Personal Information Internationally?
Cloudways is headquartered at Malta. However, we are a global entity and as such could process EU personal data at locations outside the EU, particularly in the U.S. In these cases, we provide a level of security that conforms to the EU rules, as described by our Privacy Policy.
How does Cloudways Handle Delete Requests?
Customers can remove all information they have uploaded to our products (such as servers). Similarly, they may initiate a cancellation request for their account and request that all their personal data we have collected or stored be deleted.
For this, go to the Cloudways Account settings, and delete your account by clicking the “Cancel My Account” button. Remember that once a Delete request has been finalized, there is no way of recovering the lost data.
Please note, we may retain your personal information to comply with the law, prevent fraud, invoice customers, resolve disputes, provide assistance to legal investigations and enforce the Cloudways Terms of Service. When this information is no longer required, Cloudways will permanently delete it.
How Can You View and Download Your Data?
Cloudways supports data portability and allows you to access and download your data. We offer several options including taking a local backup. For this, go to the Backup tab and enable the switch for local backups. Now, you have the option of taking a backup manually (by clicking the “Take Backup Now”) or wait for the regular backup process to take the backup.
Alternatively, you could use SFTP to connect to your server and download files you need. For database backup, we suggest using one of the supported methods to download the backup of the database.
Owais Khan
Owais works as a Marketing Manager at Cloudways (managed hosting platform) where he focuses on growth, demand generation, and strategic partnerships. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and B2B, Owais prefers to build systems that help teams achieve their full potential.
