Privacy policy

Who is responsible

HostingChecker.online is run by Piotr Kulpinski, based in Poland, who is the data controller under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For anything about your data, email hello@hostingchecker.online.

What we collect

Lookups. When you check a domain or IP address, we process that query to build the result. Results are cached for up to an hour so repeat lookups are fast, and the cache does not record who asked. Lookups without an account are not stored anywhere else.

IP address. We use your IP address to apply per-minute rate limits. The counters expire after a few minutes. Cloudflare Turnstile checks that browser lookups come from a person and not a bot.

Account. When you sign up, we store your name, email address and a hash of your password. If you sign in with Google or GitHub, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from that provider instead of a password. Each signed-in session stores the IP address and browser it started from, and we delete that record when the session ends.

Lookup history. For signed-in users and API calls, we keep each query with its time, response time, browser or client name, and the API key used. You can see this history in your dashboard.

API keys. We store a hash of each key, its name, its last four characters and when it was last used. We cannot show the full key again after creating it.

Billing. Polar handles checkout and payment as the merchant of record. We never see your card details. We store your Polar customer ID, your plan and your usage count for the current period.

Why we use it

• To run lookups, your account, API keys and subscription. The legal basis is our contract with you (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).
• To protect the service from abuse, fix errors and understand how the site is used. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure, working service (Article 6(1)(f)).
• To keep the records that tax and accounting law requires (Article 6(1)(c)).

We do not sell personal data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Analytics

We count visits with a cookieless analytics tool. It identifies a visitor by a hash that changes every day, stores no IP address, and does not follow you to other sites. We also record anonymous events such as a signup or a purchase amount.

Cookies and local storage

We set cookies only to keep you signed in. Your browser stores your light or dark theme choice in local storage. Cloudflare may set a strictly necessary security cookie. We use no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, so there is no cookie banner.

Who processes data for us

• Hetzner hosts our servers and database in Finland.
• Cloudflare delivers the site, serves images and runs the Turnstile bot check.
• Polar processes payments, taxes and invoices as the merchant of record.
• Google and GitHub handle sign-in, only if you choose them.
• Better Stack receives error reports, which can include your browser, the page address and details of the error.

To build a result, we send the domain or IP address you look up (never your own IP address) to public data sources: DNS resolvers, the checked server itself, IPinfo, PeeringDB, RIPEstat, and RDAP and WHOIS servers of domain registries.

Some of these providers are based in the United States. Transfers outside the European Economic Area rely on the safeguards the GDPR allows, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep it

• Cached lookup results: up to one hour.
• Rate limit counters: a few minutes.
• Sessions: until you sign out or the session expires.
• Account, lookup history and API keys: until you delete your account.
• Invoices and payment records: as long as tax law requires, kept by Polar.

You can delete your account from your profile page. This removes your account, sessions, API keys and lookup history at once, and cancels any subscription.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you can ask for a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, receive it in a portable format, restrict its processing, or object to processing based on legitimate interest. Email hello@hostingchecker.online and we will answer within 30 days. You can also complain to a data protection authority. In Poland, that is the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO).

Security

All traffic uses HTTPS. We store passwords and API keys only as hashes, and limit access to the servers to the people who run the service.

Children

HostingChecker.online is not meant for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, we update the date at the top of this page. Read the current version together with our terms of service.