You must worry about a myriad of things when considering web hosts.
Your privacy is one of them.
Well, depending on what you need a website for, it’s understandable if extra privacy isn’t top of your list. But who wants to leave their privacy to chance? Online privacy is an increasing concern for 53 percent of internet users worldwide.
So people are taking great strides to keep their digital residue down to a minimum.
If you read on, you’ll know why your web hosting privacy matters and five hosting providers that offer anonymous services.
Why Web Hosting Privacy Matters
According to professionals, the hosting service marketing is nearing $154 billion. Hence, it’s easier to find niche hosting providers that take your privacy needs seriously. If you need to host a simple personal blog, chances are you may prioritize design and ease of use over other features. But for users looking to remain private, that’s a different ball game.
In our digitally connected world, it only makes sense that you’d want to keep your personal information away from hackers, third-party brokers, and identity thieves.
But that’s not all there is to it. Hosting your website anonymously keeps you away from certain legal risks and limitations due to jurisdictions.
Technically, when you host your website in countries like Sweden, or Iceland with strong (and entrenched) privacy laws, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of trouble.
Another reason why web hosting privacy matters is because your government may spy on you.
Some countries’ governments make it difficult for people to air their views through:
- Censorships
- Regulations
- Taxes, and
- Criminalization
Individuals either stop running some kinds of businesses or risk jail time.
However, if you worry about leaving digital residues or hosting controversial content, you must be picky with your hosting provider.
Read on to see five hosting providers that offer you complete hosting privacy.
5 Web Hosting Providers That Offer Privacy
Some of the criteria to keep in mind when searching for anonymous hosting providers are:
- A “no-logs” registration process. (by email alone)
- Anonymous payment gateways through cryptocurrencies
- Domain privacy protection.
The following hosting providers tick all the boxes and more.
Bahnhof
Bahnhof is a web hosting provider and residential ISP based in Sweden. They provide clients with secure cloud solutions and maximum security against mass surveillance and data leaks.
Bahnhof powers its secure data centers with 100 percent green energy and flourishes under Swedish favorable data protection laws.
While Bahnhof caters to users with traditional data center needs, it also provides cloud alternatives with Virtual Data Center (VDC), Virtual Private Server (VPS), and colocation services.
Bahnhof has four customizable VPS packages on OpenStack. Small, Medium, Large, and Custom, which users can customize with the following features:
- 1-24 vCPU
- 1-128 GB VRAM
- 5-2000 GB VHD SSD
- Linux
Bahnhof is notable for hosting the infamous yet anonymous WikiLeaks. They also run a certification process for data centers that use renewable energy called Triple Green.
Tranquillity
Tranquillity is an environment-friendly, no-logs hosting provider in Sweden. They live up to their “no-logs” feature and are cautious of leaving digital footprints on the internet.
You can make payments through Paypal and Bitcoin and contact them through secure channels like GnuPG and XMPP.
Tranquillity offers the following web hosting features.
- VPS – €8 per month (VAT inclusive)
- 100 Mbit(no traffic limits)
- 1GB Ram
- 30GB SSD storage
- IPv4
- IPv6
- UPS
However, they charge up to €5 per month for extra storage. And €50 plus VAT for commercial internet connection.
OrangeWebsite
OrangeWebsite is an Iceland-based offshore hosting provider, offering anonymous hosting solutions since 2009. They encourage uncensored speech and guarantee data privacy for users.
To show their commitment to privacy and freedom of speech, OrangeWebsite allows clients to host Tor relay and exit nodes on their VPS servers.
They require only an email address to sign up and receive anonymous payments via Bitcoin and Monero. However, they also accept payments via PayPal and bank transfers.
OrangeWebsite has three hosting solutions:
Shared (cPanel) Hosting
The shared hosting package has four hosting plans with the following features:
- cPanel plus SSL security.
- SSL-secured webmail.
- Spam Assassin.
- Green Site Seal.
- osCommerce Shopping Cart.
- Softaculous one-click installer.
- WordPress, Boonex Dolphin, Drupal, and 330 other scripts.
Virtual Private Servers (VPS)
This hosting package has seven fully-managed hosting plans. It allows one dedicated IP address and root access.
It offers cPanel, Windows web servers, Encompass, Linux distributions, and other pre-installed control panels.
You can also get a dedicated CPU core, advanced DDoS protection, and a secure external backup service for an extra charge.
Dedicated Servers
This package has four dedicated server plans with these features:
- Four dedicated IP addresses
- Quad-core processor
- Root access
- DDoS protection
- Pre-installed control panels
- Free setup
- 24/7 support.
Your options will vary based on RAM, disk space, processor, and bandwidth.
FlokiNet
FlokiNet is another provider that offers friendly, anonymous hosting. Like OrangeWebsite, they’re also based in Iceland and accept payments in Bitcoin, Monero, and Paysafecard.
The company also has encrypted data servers in Finland and Romania, offering secure, flexible, and autonomous hosting solutions since 2012.
They provide a unique set of tools and features to help you build websites and maintain your privacy without cutting on performance.
FlokiNet provides shared hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), and dedicated servers as hosting solutions. These solutions come with the following features:
- Installation of a desired operating system
- SSH access
- SSD storage
- SSL certificates for all domains
- 9 percent uptime
- Free migration assistance
- DDoS/firewall protection(in Romania only)
- Softaculous app installer
- Requires only email to sign up
- Legal adult content (on Finnish and Romanian servers)
- Accepts several cryptocurrencies and other payment options
FlokiNET also offers services like penetration testing, Team Speak, and secure VoIP to protect your IT infrastructure and allow smooth digital operations.
Greenhost
Greenhost is an eco-friendly web hosting company based in the Netherlands. They support DNSSEC and specializes in encryptions and open source applications like:
- GlobaLeaks
- Etherpad
- VPN/Viper platforms
- Zimbra mail and collaboration server and more
Greenhost offers three hosting plans – Basic, Professional, and Premium packages. And a Virtual Private Server with Ceph, SSD, and Xen as pillars.
Points to Remember
Aside from primarily paying with cryptocurrencies and offshore data centers, an anonymous web hosting plan works like a regular or local hosting plan.
Typically, the features vary according to the services each package offers. But, complete data privacy, site performance, and reliability are set-in-stone features, you must look out for when looking for a web host.
To learn more about host performance visit hostscore.net.
