Law Enforcement Requests

This page describes how law enforcement agencies and government authorities may submit lawful requests for data to Hostry Compute LLC ("Hostry", "we", "us", "our").

This page is addressed to official law enforcement and governmental authorities only. Customers, abuse reporters and rightsholders should use the Abuse Reports Processing Policy, the DMCA Procedures or the EU Digital Services Act Disclosures instead.

Submission address: le@hostry.com

1. Who We Are

Hostry Compute LLC is a Delaware limited liability company, registered at 2810 N Church St STE 89834, Wilmington, DE 19802, United States, and is subject to United States law.

We provide:

• virtual servers (VPS / VDS) and dedicated servers;
• shared web hosting and website builder services;
• domain name registration, as a reseller for an ICANN-accredited registrar;
• DNS hosting;
• VPN services;
• SSL certificate provisioning;

across multiple datacenter locations.

We do not provide end-user internet access or consumer telecommunications services.

2. IP Address Allocation Model

All IP addresses used in Hostry services are assigned from shared address pools.

• an IP address is assigned to a service only for the duration of that service;
• on termination or expiration, the address returns to the pool;
• the same address may later be reassigned to a different service and a different customer.

Accurate time correlation is therefore essential. An IP address without a timestamp does not identify a customer.

Some Hostry services are delivered on infrastructure operated by third-party providers. Where that is the case, the address ranges are allocated to the upstream provider and appear as such in WHOIS and RDAP records. Hostry maintains its own assignment records for the services it provisions on those ranges, but records held solely by the upstream provider are not available to Hostry and must be requested from that provider directly.

3. Required Information

To identify a specific service and the associated account, a request must include at minimum:

• the IP address in question;
• the approximate date and time of the activity, including timezone.

A margin of plus or minus several days is acceptable where the exact time is unknown.

The following are not required for identification: network protocols, port numbers, and application-level or payload data.

4. Requests Involving Domain Names

Hostry provides domain registration and DNS hosting, so a domain name may be a valid starting point for a request. However, a domain registered with Hostry is frequently hosted elsewhere, and a domain hosted with Hostry is frequently registered elsewhere.

Hostry is not an ICANN-accredited registrar and provides domain registration as a reseller. Registration records, including registrant contact data published through WHOIS and RDAP, are held by the accredited registrar of record and must be requested from that registrar directly. Hostry holds the order and billing records linking an account to a domain purchased through it, and the DNS records where the domain uses Hostry DNS hosting. Proceedings under the UDRP and the URS are administered by the registrar of record, not by Hostry.

For this reason a request referencing a domain name should state which service is of interest — registration records, DNS records, or the hosting of the content — and, where the request concerns hosted content, should also include the IP address to which the domain resolved at the relevant time.

5. VPN Services

Where a request concerns Hostry VPN services, please note that the data available to us is limited by the technical design of the service and by our retention periods. We provide whatever records we hold in response to valid legal process; we do not create records that do not exist, and we do not undertake prospective monitoring except where required by a lawful order specifically compelling it.

6. Requests We Cannot Process

We are unable to process requests that:

• lack sufficient information to identify a specific service;
• specify open-ended or excessively broad time ranges;
• seek information about all users who have ever used a particular IP address;
• seek data that is outside our retention periods and no longer exists;
• are informal, speculative or exploratory in nature;
• are not accompanied by the legal basis on which they are made;
• seek data that is held exclusively by a third-party infrastructure provider and is not accessible to Hostry.

Where a request concerns data that Hostry does not hold but that may be held by an upstream provider, we will say so and, where lawful and practicable, identify the provider to which the request should be directed. We do not forward legal process on behalf of requesting authorities.

7. Data Retention

We can only produce data that still exists. Retention periods are set out in Section 9 of the Privacy Policy. Operational and security logs, including IP assignment history, are retained for up to 12 months. Account and billing records are retained for longer.

These periods apply to records generated by Hostry systems. Where a service is delivered on infrastructure operated by a third-party provider, the retention of records generated by that provider is governed by the provider's own policies and may be shorter or longer.

Where an investigation is ongoing and a formal legal request is expected, authorities may submit a preservation request identifying the service and the data to be preserved. We will preserve the identified data for 90 days pending service of formal legal process, renewable once on request.

A preservation request can only be given effect in respect of data within Hostry's control. Where the data identified is held by an upstream provider, we will inform the requesting authority promptly so that the request can be directed to that provider without loss of time.

8. Jurisdiction and Legal Basis

Hostry is incorporated in the United States and does not maintain a legal entity within the European Union or the United Kingdom.

Requests from United States authorities must be accompanied by appropriate legal process — subpoena, court order or warrant, as required by the type of data sought under the Stored Communications Act and other applicable law.

Requests from non-US authorities, including EU and UK authorities, may be submitted directly where the request is lawful, specific and proportionate. Where the data sought requires US legal process, we will inform the requesting authority and may preserve the relevant data pending completion of the required process, including through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty channels.

Legally binding orders issued by EU authorities under Article 10 of the EU Digital Services Act are handled as described in the EU Digital Services Act Disclosures.

9. Emergency Requests

In exceptional and time-sensitive situations, Hostry may review a request before receipt of formal legal process, including cases involving an immediate threat to human life or of serious physical injury, ongoing or imminent terrorist activity, kidnapping or missing persons, and comparable emergencies.

An emergency request must clearly state the nature of the emergency, the legal authority under which it is made, and why the delay of formal process would cause harm. Formal legal documentation may be required after the emergency has been addressed.

Emergency requests should be marked URGENT — EMERGENCY DISCLOSURE REQUEST in the subject line.

10. Customer Notification

Where legally permitted, Hostry notifies the affected customer of a request for their data before disclosure, so that they may seek to challenge it.

We do not provide such notice where notification is prohibited by law or by judicial order, where the request is accompanied by a valid non-disclosure order, or where the request concerns an emergency involving risk to life.

11. Verification

All requests are subject to verification. Falsely representing oneself as a law enforcement officer or government authority is a criminal offense under United States law and in many other jurisdictions.

We may require verification through an official government email domain, credentials or badge, or other reasonable confirmation. Requests received from free or personal email accounts will not be actioned without independent verification.

12. How to Submit

Requests sent via social media, live chat, standard customer support tickets or other informal channels will not be processed.

13. Costs

Hostry may charge reasonable costs for the retrieval and production of data where permitted by applicable law, particularly for requests requiring significant engineering effort. The requesting authority will be informed before any such cost is incurred.

14. Updates

This page may be updated to reflect legal or operational changes. The effective date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision.