Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Mothersoft Technologies ("Motherhost", "we", "us" or "our") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data when you use our Service, and the rights you have over it. We process personal data in line with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and other applicable laws.

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of your information as described in this policy. For a plain-language summary, visit our Privacy Center.

2. Definitions

• Account: The account created for you to access the Service, including any delegate (sub-user) access granted to it.
• Company, Data Fiduciary: Mothersoft Technologies, 6, A.M. Jain College Staff Colony, Nanganallur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India – 600061. We decide why and how your personal data is processed.
• Data Principal, You: The individual whose personal data is processed, or the company or other legal entity on whose behalf that individual uses the Service.
• Data Processor, Service Provider: A company that processes personal data on our behalf.
• Personal Data: Any information about an identified or identifiable individual.
• Service: The Motherhost website (www.motherhost.com), the client area (my.motherhost.com), the Motherhost mobile apps, and the hosting, domain, email, cloud, SSL, licensing and related services we provide.
• Usage Data: Data collected automatically when you use the Service, such as IP address, browser type and pages visited.

3. Personal Data We Collect

Information you give us

• Account and contact details: first and last name, email address, mobile number, postal address, country, and optionally company name and GSTIN.
• Identity verification (eKYC): for .IN and .Bharat domains, the registry (NIXI) requires registrant identity verification. This is completed through our approved verification partner, Digio. We receive the verification result and the details the registry requires.
• Domain registrant details: the contact details you provide for domain registrations, which domain registries require.
• Support communications: the content of support tickets and emails you send us, including any attachments.
• Delegate details: the name and email address of anyone you invite to access your account.

Information we collect when you use the Service

• Login and security data: the date and time of each login, IP address, approximate location (city and country), network host name, and whether you logged in on the website or the client area. We use this to detect logins from new locations and protect your account.
• Verification data: records of one-time codes (OTPs) sent to your email or mobile number, and whether two-factor authentication is enabled.
• Billing data: orders, invoices, payments, refunds, wallet credit and promotional codes used.
• Service data: the domains, hosting, email, cloud servers and other services on your account, with their configuration and usage, such as disk space, bandwidth and mailbox usage, which we use for billing usage-based plans.
• Communications history: a record of emails we send you, which you can view under My Profile → Email History.
• Usage Data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, pages visited, and time spent, collected through cookies with your consent (see section 4).
• Mobile app data: if you use our mobile apps and allow notifications, a push-notification device identifier.

Payment information

Payments are processed by our payment partner, Razorpay. Your full card number, CVV, UPI PIN and net-banking passwords are entered with, and held by, Razorpay. We never receive or store them. We keep only the transaction reference, amount, status and, for saved cards, a masked card reference provided by Razorpay.

Content you host with us

Website files, databases, mailboxes and other content stored on our services belong to you. We process this content only to provide the service, for example storing, serving and backing it up. We don't access it except to deliver the service, maintain security, respond to your support request, or comply with the law.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

When you first visit our website, a cookie banner lets you Accept All, Decline, or choose your preferences with Show Preferences.

• Essential (always on): required for security and core functions. These include Google reCAPTCHA, which protects forms from bots, and MaxMind GeoIP, which provides location-based security checks and shows the right currency. Login sessions also use essential cookies.
• Analytics (optional): Google Tag Manager, which helps us understand how the website is used. It loads only if you allow it.
• Marketing (optional): Meta Pixel, which measures our advertising on Facebook and Instagram and helps show you relevant Motherhost offers there. It loads only if you allow it. Meta receives information such as the pages you visit on our website, your IP address and browser details.
• Referral cookie: if you arrive through a Motherhost affiliate's referral link, we store that affiliate's referral code for 30 days. This lets us credit the affiliate if you sign up. See our Affiliate Policy.

Your cookie choice is stored in your browser. You can change it at any time with the Cookie Settings link at the bottom of every page on our website. You can also block cookies in your browser settings, but parts of the Service, such as login and checkout, may not work.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data only for these purposes:

• To provide the Service: creating and managing your account, setting up and running the services you order, and registering, renewing and transferring domains.
• Billing: issuing invoices and tax invoices, processing payments and refunds, managing wallet credit, sending renewal reminders, and meeting GST and tax requirements.
• Account security: verifying your email and mobile number, sending one-time codes, checking logins from new locations, supporting two-factor authentication, and preventing fraud and abuse.
• Support: answering your tickets and emails.
• Service communications: invoices, renewal and expiry notices, suspension notices, security alerts, and monthly account summaries, by email, SMS, WhatsApp, calls or push notifications, according to your notification preferences.
• News and offers: only where you haven't opted out.
• Improving the Service: analytics, where you've given consent.
• Legal compliance: meeting domain registry rules (including NIXI eKYC), tax law, and lawful requests from authorities.

6. Consent and Your Choices

We process your personal data based on your consent, or where it's needed to provide a service you've asked for, or where the law permits or requires it. You can:

• change which emails and messages you receive under My Profile → Notification Preferences. Messages required by domain registries and security messages, such as one-time codes and new-location login alerts, can't be turned off while they apply.
• change your cookie choices as described in section 4.
• update your name, mobile number, address and company details under My Profile.

7. Your Rights

As a Data Principal, you have the right to:

• Access: get a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we process it.
• Correction and completion: have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected.
• Erasure: have your personal data deleted when it's no longer needed, subject to section 10.
• Withdraw consent: at any time, as easily as you gave it. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect processing that happened before, and may mean we can no longer provide some services.
• Grievance redressal: raise a complaint about how we handle your data.
• Nominate: nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@motherhost.com from the email address registered on your account. We may verify your identity using your Customer ID or Support PIN. We will never ask for your password or a one-time code. You can also close your account yourself. See Close my Motherhost account.

8. Grievance Officer

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, contact our Grievance Officer at privacy@motherhost.com, or by post at the address in section 2. We will acknowledge your grievance promptly and resolve it within 90 days. If you're not satisfied with our response, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India.

9. Sharing Your Personal Data

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the following, and only as needed for the purposes in section 5:

These providers may use your data only to provide their service to us, and must protect it.

Public domain data: domain registries may publish some registrant details in public WHOIS or RDAP lookups, according to their rules. Domain privacy protection, where available for your extension, hides these details.

Delegates: people you invite to access your account can see the account information their permissions allow. See Delegate access: levels of permission.

Other disclosures: we may disclose personal data if required by law, court order or a lawful request from a government authority. We may also disclose it to protect our rights, our customers or the public, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case this policy will continue to apply to your data.

10. Data Retention and Deletion

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy, or as long as the law requires:

• Account and service data: while your account is open.
• Invoices, payments and tax records: for the period required by GST and tax law, even after your account is closed.
• Domain registrant data: while the domain is registered, and afterwards as registry rules require.
• Login and security records: for as long as needed to protect your account and investigate misuse.

When you close your account, or when the purpose is fulfilled, we delete or anonymize your personal data, except where we must keep it by law. Content on cancelled services, such as website files, databases and mailboxes, is deleted when the service is cancelled or terminated. See our Hosting Service Backup Policy.

11. Where Your Data Is Stored

Your account data is stored in our database hosted in India (Mumbai region). Your website files, databases and mailboxes on our hosting and email services are stored on our servers in India, unless you've ordered a service in another location, such as a cloud server in a region you choose.

Some service providers in section 9, such as Cloudflare, Google and payment and messaging networks, may process data outside India to deliver their service. Where this happens, we use reputable providers that protect personal data, and we follow any restrictions the Government of India places on transfers.

12. Data Security

We protect your data with industry-standard measures, including:

• encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
• one-time code verification for logins from new locations, and optional two-factor authentication
• role-based access controls and audit logs for our staff
• monitoring for unauthorized access

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work to protect your data. We will never ask you for your password, one-time codes, or hosting or domain credentials by phone, email, SMS or chat.

If a personal data breach affects you, we will inform you and the Data Protection Board of India as required by law.

13. Children's Data

The Service is not intended for anyone under 18, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact privacy@motherhost.com and we will delete it.

14. Links to Other Websites

The Service may contain links to websites we don't operate. We aren't responsible for their content or privacy practices. Please review the privacy policy of every website you visit.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy when the law or our practices change. We will post the updated policy on this page with a new "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we will also notify you by email or with a notice in the client area.

16. Contact Us

• Privacy questions and requests: privacy@motherhost.com
• Everything else: support@motherhost.com
• Post: Mothersoft Technologies, 6, A.M. Jain College Staff Colony, Nanganallur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India – 600061