What is private web hosting, and what does it hide?

What does “private” mean for a web host?

Private hosting has three layers: what the host asks, what it keeps, and whose law it answers to.

1. At signup. The host does not ask for ID. See web hosting without KYC.
2. After signup. The host keeps as little about you as it can while running the service.
3. When someone asks. The host answers to its company’s law and to the law of the datacenter’s country.

Hosts differ on each layer. The word “private” on a homepage does not say which layers it covers.

Who keeps the server logs of my website?

At Velumhold, you do. We keep no logs of who you are: no connection records of the dashboard and no IP addresses of customers. The web server keeps the access logs of your own sites in your account, for you, and you can switch them off.

Two sources show why that point matters. The Apache documentation says the server access log records all requests the server processes, and it can include the IP address of the client. Recital 30 of the GDPR lists IP addresses among the online identifiers that can be linked to a person.

So if you keep access logs, you hold data about your visitors. Decide what you need, keep it only as long as you need it, and switch the logs off if you do not need them.

What does a host still have to keep for billing?

A host that takes payments needs records of them. We hold only what billing and running your account need: the account number and an email if you add one; every top-up and order (amount, coin, network, transaction ID, date); and per hosting account its plan, term, location, starting point, SSH public key if you gave one, and dates. No record leaves us without an order from a Panamanian court.

A transaction ID points to an entry on a public blockchain, so a billing record at the host matches a record anyone can read. One host in the survey, 1984 Hosting, says it keeps bookkeeping for 7 years.

How does jurisdiction affect a private host?

Three legal systems can touch your site: the company’s, the datacenter’s and your own.

• The company. Velumhold belongs to DomaineGoat LLC, a company incorporated in Panama that answers to Panamanian law alone. Each datacenter that houses our servers is bound by the law of the country it sits in.
• The datacenter. Servers sit in Reykjavik (Iceland), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Bucharest (Romania): every plan in every location, at the same price. For the Reykjavik location, read Iceland web hosting.
• You and your visitors. Check what your own country’s law says about what you publish. The acceptable use policy lists what the host forbids.

How the company handles requests is explained in how we work.

Does private hosting cover my domain name?

No. Domains are not sold here: point a domain you own to the account with two nameservers or an A record. Your registrar decides what its WHOIS or RDAP record shows.

ICANN’s guide for registrants says a domain owner must provide accurate information for directories such as WHOIS. Its Registration Data Policy, in force since 21 August 2025, requires registrars to redact personal data in public output where the law requires it. Since 28 January 2025, RDAP is the definitive source for generic top-level domain registration data, in place of WHOIS.

So choose a registrar with the same care as a host, and read what it publishes about you.

Is paying in crypto private?

Less than people assume. bitcoin.org states that all Bitcoin transactions are public, traceable and permanently stored in the Bitcoin network. The host never learns your name from the payment, but your wallet’s history stays visible.

It advises a new address for each incoming payment and separate wallets for different purposes. The Bitcoin payment guide shows where that fits.