Web Hosting Liabilities To Business Customers
When it comes to the variety of choices you have for web hosting, your major concern should be the terms of service agreement that the web hosting company provides in order to protect yourself from unanticipated costs. Use the suggestions below to compare your web hosting choices based on their terms of service agreements.
Make sure you read the terms of service agreement that applies to your website. Terms of service agreements frequently have different provisions depending on the product you sign up with using a particular hosting company. You can always double check with a live person by calling the web hosting company to make sure that the terms of service agreement you're reading will be the one that applies if you select a specific package of web hosting services with the company.
Downtime is a critical consideration for choosing a web hosting company that can make a significant difference in customers being able to access your online materials. While most web hosting companies specifically advertise minimal downtime, it's also important to note that they frequently provide for few if any remedies if actual downtime exceeds the promised amount. Downtime is usually covered in terms of commercially reasonable standards that typically provide that under your terms of service agreement the most you can expect from a web hosting company is notice about scheduled maintenance.
If you're worried about a web hosting company's performance regarding downtime it is important that you rely on your own research in making your decision about whether a company meets its promised minimal levels of downtime because there is little you can do to repair the situation or recover your lost revenue from having your site go down because of your web hosting company.
Read through security provisions regarding how your personal information will be handled by a web hosting company. Your web hosting company has a wide range of behaviors that it will list that it will not be liable for under the terms of service agreement.
Carefully read through your terms of service agreement regarding third-party security breaches that can result from your web hosting company providing information to third parties, since different web hosting companies have different policies regarding sharing information with third parties.
Some web hosting companies share your information with third parties without giving you the option to opt out of such information sharing so that you should consider which sharing of information methods your web hosting company gives you the option of opting out of as one criteria for considering web hosting companies.
If you believe that your web hosting company has made misuse of your personal information even if the conduct seems OK under the terms of service agreement, you should consult with an attorney regarding possible remedies.
Your web hosting company usually has very limited responsibility to you in spite of what you believe you've bargained for. Use the tips above for considering what rights you'll have with the web hosting company you choose.
