Introduction
All customers (referred to as ‘you’ or ‘your’) of SmartHost (referred to as ‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’) services, agree to comply with our Acceptable Use Policy to ensure every customer uses our services fairly and with due regard to the rights of other internet users and in conformity with network requirements and our environment. This Acceptable Use Policy is not exhaustive and we reserve the right to add, delete, or change this policy at any time without notice, effective upon posting to our website. This policy supersedes any other agreement with us, whether written, oral, by conduct, or otherwise.
Any complaints about a violation of this policy should be sent to abuse@smarthost.ie
Disclaimer
Our services are provided on an as-is, as available basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We expressly disclaim any representation or warranty that our service will be error-free, secure, or uninterrupted. No oral advice or written information given by us or our representatives will create a warranty; nor may you rely on any such information or advice. Neither us, our partners, or our suppliers are liable for any cost or damage arising either directly or indirectly from any transaction or use of the service.
Ownership of Web site
The legal owner of your web site and account with us will be the individual or organisation on record as the owner. You will fully cooperate with us and abide by any security measures and procedures we put in place due to any dispute over ownership of a web site.
Our Services
Our services include, but are not limited to:
- Any act of preparing, setting up, connecting, maintaining, terminating, or recreating any aspect of your account
- Service provision, by us to you, related to web hosting and domain name registrations (including server usage and technical support), regardless of duration and whether paid for or not
- Provision of space, internet connectivity, and electrical power
- Any access or use related to our web site and control panels
- Bespoke services provided at the request of you
- Any other service mentioned in this policy
Privacy
We take the privacy of online communications and web sites very seriously. In general, the Internet is neither more nor less secure than other means of communication, including mail, facsimile, and voice telephone service, all of which can be intercepted and otherwise compromised. As a matter of prudence, however, we urge you to assume that all online communications are insecure. We cannot take any responsibility for the security of information transmitted through our network and services.
Actions Taken by Us
Failing to meet or follow this policy could be grounds for account deactivation. We will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of this policy. We reserve the right to remove any account without prior notice and to refuse service to anyone at any time.
When we become aware of an alleged violation, we will initiate an investigation. During the investigation, we may restrict account access in order to prevent further activity. Depending on the severity of the violation we may, at our sole discretion, restrict, suspend, or terminate a web hosting account and/or pursue other civil remedies. If such violation is a criminal offence, we will notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities. An unlisted activity may also be a violation of this policy if it is illegal, irresponsible, or constitutes disruptive use of the Internet. We do not issue credits for outages incurred through service disablement resulting from violations of this policy. Violators of the policy are responsible, without limitations, for the cost of labour to rectify any damage done to the operation of the network and business operations supported by the network and to maintain an open dialogue with us.
Indemnification
As a customer, you agree to protect, defend, hold harmless, and indemnify us, any third party entity related to us (including without limitation, third party vendors), and our executives, directors, officers, attorneys, managers, employees, consultants, contractors, agents, parent companies, subsidiaries, and co-subsidiaries with the same parent company as us, from and against any and all liabilities, losses, costs, judgements, damages, claims, or causes of actions, including, without limitation, any and all legal fees and expenses, arising out of or resulting from use of our services.
Modifications to Services
We may discontinue, upgrade, replace, modify, or change, without limitation, any software, application, program, data, hardware, equipment, or components used to provide customers with our services. Certain changes to our services may affect the operation of your personalised applications and content. You are solely responsible, and we are not liable, for any and all such personalised applications and content, except as expressly agreed in writing by us.
Waiver and Amendment
Any waiver, modification, or amendment of any provision of the policy or other agreement for our services, initiated by you, will be effective only if accepted in writing and signed by an authorised representative of SmartHost.
Child Pornography
The use of any of our services to store, post, display, transmit, advertise, or otherwise make available child pornography is prohibited. We are required by law and will immediately, notify law enforcement agencies when we become aware of the presence of child pornography on or being transmitted through our services.
Adult Content
Some types of adult content is allowed. For example, we permit adult shopping sites. However, pornographic images, pornographic videos, and pornographic websites are not allowed to be hosted on any of our services.
Illegal Use
Our servers may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or distribution of any information, data, or material in violation of any applicable law or regulation, or that may directly facilitate the violation of any particular law or regulation is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material; trademarks; trade secrets or other intellectual property rights used without proper authorisation; material that is obscene, defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat or violates export control laws. Additionally, in purchasing our services, you certify that you and/or the organisation you represent in procuring services from us are not, nor have been designated, a suspected terrorist; is not owned or controlled by a ‘suspected terrorist’, and are not on, are not a member of, related to, associated with, or controlled by any organisations on the list contained in the Annex to Executive Order 13224 and all updates thereto.
We also do not permit any service that can be used to facilitate illegal use or activity, such as torrent, Warez, or other file sharing services.
System and Network Abuse, Viruses and Destructive Activities
Violations of system or network security are prohibited and may result in criminal and civil liability.
Use of our services or equipment for creating or sending viruses, worms, or Trojan horses, or for pinging, flooding or mail bombing, or engaging in denial of service attacks is prohibited. It is also prohibited for any customer to engage in other activity that is intended to disrupt or interfere with, or that results in the disruption of or interference with, the ability of others to effectively use our services and equipment (or any connected network, system, service or equipment) or conduct their business over the Internet.
Examples of system or network security violations include, without limitation the following: unauthorised access to or use of data, systems, or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without express authorisation of the owner of the system or network; interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks; forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting
If your web site is found to be the cause of a problem that brings all, or part of our network down, you may be charged a fine up to €500 and may be reported to An Garda if it is found or deemed to be of malicious intent.
Intellectual Property
You will not, without our express written consent, copy, reproduce, republish, or otherwise use any material, in whole or in part, that is located on our web site, and customers will not use any of our trademarks, service marks, copyrighted materials, or other intellectual property without our express written consent. Customers will not, in any way, misrepresent their relationship with us or attempt to pass themselves off as SmartHost.
Governing Law and Sever-ability
This policy and any other agreement for SmartHost services will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Ireland without reference to its conflicts of law principles. Any litigation or arbitration between you and us will take place in the Republic of Ireland, and you will consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in that jurisdiction. If any provision or portion of this policy or other agreement is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of this policy or the agreement will continue in full force and effect.
Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event, and under no theory of law or equity, will we (including without limitation, our executives, directors, officers, attorneys, managers, employees, consultants, contractors, agents, parent companies, subsidiaries, co-subsidiaries with the same parent company as us, affiliates, third-party providers, merchants, licensor’s, or the like) or anyone else involved in creating, producing or distributing our services, be liable for the loss of a domain name, or any business or personal loss, revenues decrease, expense increase, cost of substitute products and/or our services, and any other loss or damage whatsoever, or for any consequential, special, incidental, punitive or indirect damages of any kind arising out of any use of, or any inability to use, any of our services even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages, our total cumulative liability, if any, to customer, or any third party, for any and all damages related to this polity or our services, including, without limitation, those from any negligence, and act or omission by us or our representatives, or under any other theory of law or equity, will be limited to, and will not exceed, the actual pound amount paid by the customer or the services which gave rise to such damages, losses and causes of actions during the 3 month period prior to the date the damage or loss occurred or the cause of action arose.
Independent Contractors
Nothing in this policy will be construed as creating a partnership or relationship of employer and employee, principal and agent, partnership or joint venture between us and you. Each individual relationship will be deemed an independent contractor at all times and will have no right or authority to assume or create any obligation on behalf of the other, except as may be expressly provided herein.
Affiliate Program
All Affiliate payments are made soon as you reach €100. You can not claim commission on your own sign-ups and orders.
Assignment
Customers may not assign or delegate their rights or obligations under this policy or other agreement for our services, either in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of SmartHost.
Termination for Bankruptcy or Insolvency
If you become insolvent or any bankruptcy petition is filed by the customer or any third party against the customer, we may immediately terminate the provision of our services to you without prior notice or penalty. Such customer consent to the grant of relief from any automatic stay of proceedings against us in such an event.
Free Domain Names
If your hosting plan came with a free domain name, then the domain names are fully registered to you the same way as it would be if the domain name was purchased by you. The domain name can not be transferred away from us for the first 12 months.
.IE domain name registration
By accepting our terms & conditions you are also accepting the terms & conditions specified by IEDR which can be found at https://www.weare.ie/registrant-terms-conditions-policy/
Customer Billing Policy
The following constitutes our Billing Policy and applies to all SmartHost customers.
Payments
All charges are shown in EUR. We accept Credit cards (VISA, MasterCard) and PayPal.
All payments are due on the Account Statement Date, which is defined by your chosen billing cycle and is usually the anniversary of the date to the account was activated.
If you provide us with your credit card information, you authorise us to automatically charge your credit or debit card for charges that apply to your account. Recurring charges will be posted to your credit card until such time that you cancel your account or change your payment method.
You are responsible for directly updating, or notifying us, of any changes to your credit card (including, but not limited to card number, expiration date, billing address, or card status).
Customers not paying by credit card agree to make payment of their balance due within ten (10) days of the Account Statement Date. Accounts that are seven (7) days past due will be automatically suspended.
All past due and unpaid balances may be subject to collection. In the event of collection, you will be liable for costs of collection including attorney’s fees, court costs, and collection agency fees, invoices will be passed to a debt collection agency once they are 30 days overdue.
Billing Cycles (Terms)
The Billing Cycle begins on the Service Activation Date. You may elect to change your Billing Cycle at any time. The new Billing Cycle will only take effect at the time of the next renewal. Additional items are non-refundable.
Account Renewals
In order to ensure uninterrupted service to your website, all services will automatically renew at the end of their Billing Cycle. Renewal charges are based on the prevailing rate on the date of renewal according to the service selected. Services are renewed for the same billing cycle as originally purchased. If you wish to cancel a service before its renewal, please refer to the Cancellations section below.
Money-Back Guarantee
Our thirty (30) day money-back guarantee is from your initial sign-up date on our Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting services. All other products such as Cloud Server VPS, Dedicated Servers, SSL Certificates, and Domain names are excluded and do not have a money-back guarantee.
All refunds are pro-rata. If a free domain name was included with your hosting service, then €20 will be withheld from the refund to cover our costs.
Cancellations
All Services will automatically renew until they are cancelled. In order to cancel a service, you must contact our Support Desk Team and our customer service representatives will assist you with the cancellation process. Cancellations must be submitted at least 7 days before the invoice due date, cancellations after this period will still be required to pay the invoice that is due.
Refunds
Refunds are given if your product has a 30 day money-back guarantee and you have given notice at least 48 hours prior to the end of the money-back period. Renewals can not be refunded, you must cancel your account to void your invoice at least 3 days before your renewal date.
PayPal subscriptions
It is the client’s responsibility to cancel any PayPal subscriptions if you no longer wish to make subscription payments to us. Overpayments or duplicate payments will not be refunded however they will be automatically added as credit to your account to use on all future invoices so the payment is not lost.
Statements
We do not post paper invoices or statements. Invoices are automatically emailed to your account email address and can be viewed along with any statements using our online portal system.
Hosting Plan Changes
Customers electing to change to a lower-priced hosting plan on the same platform will not be charged a downgrade fee. There is also no upgrade fee for upgrading to a higher-priced plan, however, you will be charged any difference between the set-up fee applicable to your new and former plans.
Billing/Price Changes
Our policies and prices are subject to change with full notice. Any price changes become effective in the next billing cycle, we will notify you via email of this price change prior to the cost being edited.
Credit Card Disputes/Chargebacks
We have a zero-tolerance policy for chargebacks. Any customer who disputes a credit card payment is subject to a fine, suspension, and account termination at our discretion. A €25.00 chargeback fee will be assessed for each credit card chargeback received by us.
Acceptable Use Policy: For All Customers)
This policy applies to all SmartHost Web Services Ltd customers and is not product-specific. When you sign up for any of our services, you agree to the following:
Your Responsibility
You are required to use our network responsibly and with respect for our other clients. We reserve the right to suspend and/or cancel your service if you use our network in such a way that adversely affects other customers.
While we may monitor services electronically to determine that systems are operating correctly, as a general practice, we do not monitor your communications or activities to determine if they are in compliance with the policy.
However, when we are notified of a violation of this policy, we will take action to stop or correct the violation, including, but not limited to, denying access to our services and equipment. In addition, we may take action against you or one of your clients depending on the type of violation.
If you resell and offer Internet services, you will cooperate with us in any corrective or preventive action deemed necessary. Failure to cooperate is a violation of this policy and we reserve the right to take action which may also affect your other customers or web sites.
Non-SmartHost Products
Any mention of non-SmartHost products by us, our employees, or any third party entity related to us is for information purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. SmartHost disclaims any and all liabilities for any representation or warranty made by the vendors of such non-SmartHost products or services.
Third-Party Licenses
We make a reasonable effort to provide you with technologies, developments, and innovations (collectively ‘Technologies’), part of which may be licensed, or co-branded, from or by third-party entities. However, SmartHost make NO warranty of any kind, either express or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, reliability, validity, or continued existence of any or all aspects of such Technologies. Moreover, we specifically disclaim all warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose for such Technologies. Furthermore, no customer will hold us liable in any way for the revocation of any license, which has been licensed to SmartHost. The use of the Technologies obtained from or through us, or any other referred third party, whether directly or indirectly, is at the sole risk of you the customer.
Acceptable Use Policy: Website Hosting/Reseller Hosting
All Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting is in a shared hosting environment, meaning multiple customers shared servers and services. This is standard for all Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting providers.
Fair Usage
Website Hosting plans that come with unlimited bandwidth may be asked to upgrade to an alternative solution or plan if your website is deemed to have too much traffic which impacts other users.
Accepting Payments on your Website
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is an information security standard for organisations that handle cardholder information for debit, credit, or other payment cards. Our Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting service does not comply with PCI DSS due to the nature of a shared hosting environment (many users and websites sharing resources).
You are not permitted to store and manage card details on Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting. Any website found storing card details will be suspended.
Please note that we recommend using third-party payment processing gateways (for example PayPal, Worldpay, or google checkout) as payments are handled and stored by each third-party merchant respectively.
Cost of Hosting
All Reseller Hosting customers are not permitted to sell free hosting plans to their customers. We do not allow free hosting to be hosted on our servers. Anyone found doing this will be asked to remove the facility or be suspended from our Website Reseller services.
You are permitted to provide hosting without charge as part of a different paid or managed service, such as web design. This is not deemed as providing a free account.
Server Resources
Any website that is deemed to be using a high amount of server resources (such as, but not limited to, CPU time, memory usage, and network resources) will be given the option to either pay for additional resources (depending on which resource is required), reduce the resources used to an acceptable level or upgrade to a Virtual Private Server. We will be the sole arbiter of what is considered to be a high server usage level. Any Website Hosting, Reseller Hosting (and individual clients) account deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be suspended without prior notice.
CGI Scripts
Any scripts that pose a potential security risk or are deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down or will be automatically removed without prior notice. We also do not permit CGI script sharing with websites not hosted by us.
Chat Rooms
We do not allow Chat Rooms to the installed on Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting platforms as they tend to require significant system resources which could have an adverse effect other customers.
IRC
We do not allow IRC or IRC bots to be operated on Web Hosting and Reseller Hosting accounts.
Background Running Jobs and Cron Jobs
We may allow ad-hoc programs to run in the background. These programs will be considered on an individual basis and acceptance is not guaranteed. However, most of our control panels allow scheduled tasks or cron jobs to be created.
Server Time zone
All our servers time zones are set to Irish time.
Databases
We reserve the the right to suspend or remove any databases that cause issues and downtime on any of our servers. Large and busy databases that require a lot of user connections should be hosted on a dedicated or VPS machine. Any database over 2GB in size would be considered as over usage, and not designed for shared hosting.
If your web site is not closing database connections and your web site causes sleeping connections eventually causing high usage to our database server, then your database will be suspended. A €40.00 administration fee may apply to unsuspend any database from our server, however, this is only charged if your database caused a service outage to other clients.
Disk Usage
Disk usage included with Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting plans includes disk space for databases and email.
Shared hosting accounts including reseller hosting that go over disk space usage will be billed at the end of each month at €5.00 per 1GB disk space used.
Virus’s Uploaded to Websites
If your website contains a virus or a virus has been uploaded by the website owner or if the website is hacked in any way, our system will automatically attempt to clean the virus, if this does not happen our system will then attempt to delete the virus. If the virus can not be deleted and several viruses are uploaded your domain name will be suspended from our hosting. You may be charged an administration fee of €10.00 to have the domain name re-enabled.
Backup of Data
We provide 100% backups of all Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting websites, databases & email, and provide access to these backups purely as a courtesy to our customers. We always recommend you regularly make your own backups and always make a backup before you upgrade or change your website, meaning you can then recover to a specific point in time from your own backups. Restores from our nightly backups can be made either directly through your control panel or via a support request. Please note that backups from our vault are stored for up to 7 days only. We offer no guarantees or warranties that any or all backup will be available or working.
Acceptable Use Policy: Email Services
As part of Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting, we offer all clients a mail server and related mail services. The mail server is shared with other Websites and Reseller Hosting customers.
Mail Limits
The maximum number of emails that can be sent out in any given hour is limited depending on the hosting package you have selected. Each email sent must have 50 or fewer recipients (cc or bcc).
For Website hosting and Reseller Hosting customers, an email folder auto-clean system is set-up for all emails managed through IMAP or webmail (email stored on our servers).
- Inbox will clean any emails over 1 year old
- Deleted Items will clean any emails over 1 year old
- Sent Items will clean any emails over 1 year old
- Junk Mail will clean any emails over 30 days old.
The above default settings can be changed or disabled via webmail on the auto-clean settings.
Spamming
Sending unsolicited bulk and/or commercial messages over the Internet (known as “spamming”) is prohibited, regardless of whether or not it overloads a server or disrupts service to our customers.
The term “spamming” also includes, but is not limited to, maintaining an open SMTP policy, engaging in spamming using the service of another ISP or IPP and referencing in the spam a web site hosted by us, and selling or distributing software (on a web site residing on one of our servers) that facilitates spamming.
Violators may be fined at the rate of €5 per deliberate spam email sent and will face immediate suspension. We reserve the right to determine, at our sole and absolute discretion, what constitutes a violation of this provision.
Mass Mailing
Mass mailing/mailing lists are not allowed on our Website Hosting and Reseller Hosting mail service.
Anyone who sends mass mail and is found to cause issues to our mail service or IP reputation will be given a fine (details below) and have the domain name suspended.
Those who are found to be sending masses of spam emails will be given a flat fine to cover administration time for SmartHost to physically remove the emails from our spool.
Any email spam / bulk user that causes IP blacklistings will be given a fine of €100.00.
Any user that causes complaints from other companies, for example, Spamcop, AOL, Yahoo, etc. will be issued an invoice amounting to €50.00 + VAT to cover administration fee’s for us to advise the companies the reasons why the spam was sent, and request delisting.
Disk Space
On our shared hosting, email domains can not exceed 2GB in size, this is due to the cost of the SSD & SAS disks used for mail are very expensive and the cost to us to host the domain would exceed the subscription payment we receive from the user each month.
Acceptable Use Policy: Dedicated Servers and VPS
Server Management
All Virtual Private Servers should be professionally managed by the end-user unless a management pack has been purchased and must be kept free from viruses.
Bandwidth Over Usage
Each month your bandwidth will reset on your billing date, if you go over your bandwidth allowance, an invoice will be generated. Bandwidth invoices will be charged anytime within 3-10 days after the invoice was generated.
IP Addresses
Each Server is initially assigned a range of IP addresses. Additional IP addresses s can be purchased are charged per IP address. A maximum of 5 IP addresses are allowed.
You are only permitted to add IP addresses that have been approved by SmartHost. Adding an IP address to your server that we have not allocated will result in your server being shut-down and an immediate fine of €100 being applied to your account. Your server will not be re-enabled until you have provided a reason why the unauthorised IP has been added to your server. If you have several servers, you must contact us before moving IPs between servers
Dedicated Server Operating System Reload
Dedicated server customers requiring an OS Reload on a dedicated server can request one by submitting a ticket.
Complaints Procedure
If you ever need to raise a complaint with SmartHost, please login to the client area at http://portal.smarthost.ie/index.php/login and submit a ticket to our team who will escalate the complaint for you. Alternatively, you can write to us. Our address can be found on our company page at https://smarthost.ie/contacts/
All complaints are responded to within 2 business days hours if submitted on-line, and 14 business days for postal complaints.
Domain Names and Renewals
Domain name pricing can be found on our domain name registration page at https://smarthost.ie/domains/ domain name renewals are typically the same price as the registration price, however, if in the case of a domain name price increase or decrease, we will notify all customers by emails at least 30 days before the pricing increase.
When your domain name is due to be renewed we will send you multiple reminders from 60 days before its expiry date. 30 days before the domain expires we will invoice you for the domain renewal, once this is paid the domain name will instantly be renewed. Invoices that are not paid after 14 days will automatically be cancelled and the domain name will expire. You will need to contact our billing team within 28 days of the invoice due date by submitting a ticket at http://portal.smarthost.ie/index.php/login if you wish to renew your domain name. Note some domain name extension/TLDs may occur an €80 fee for expired domains, we would notify you of this before billing you.
If you decide to transfer to another domain registrar, you can do so anytime at no extra cost from us. However, you will need to transfer out your domain name at least 35-40 days before its expiry date to avoid us invoicing you for its renewal. Your new domain registrar may charge you additional costs to transfer the domain to them depending on the domain name TLD.
The following terms and conditions apply to all services, including website development and design services, (the Services) provided by Smarthost Web Services Limited t/a SmartHost (SmartHost) to the Client, in conjunction with any relevant quotation provided to the Client by SmartHost (Terms), unless otherwise agreed in writing. Acceptance of a quote, purchase and/or use of the Services shall be considered acceptance of the Terms.
1. Charges
Charges for the Services are defined in the project quotation that the Client receives from SmartHost via email. Quotations are valid for a period of 30 days. SmartHost reserves the right to alter a quotation or decline to provide the relevant Services after expiry of the 30 days.
Unless agreed otherwise with the Client, all website design services require an advance payment of a minimum of thirty three (33) percent of the project quotation total before the work commences. A second payment of thirty three (33) percent is required after the client review and design sign off stage, with the remaining percentage of the project quotation total due upon completion of the work, prior to upload to the server or release of materials.
The Client agrees to reimburse SmartHost for any additional expenses necessary for the completion of the work. Expenses may include (but are not limited to) purchase of domain names, additional plugins, special fonts and stock photography.
All Charges are exclusive of VAT.
2. Invoicing and payment
SmartHost shall submit invoices in line with the timescales above. Invoices are normally sent via email, but hard copy invoices are available on request. Payment is due on receipt of the invoice by the Client.
Payment for services is due by credit card or bank transfer. Cheques are not accepted. Bank details will be made available on invoices.
If the Client fails to make any payment due to SmartHost by the due date for payment, then, without limiting SmartHost’s remedies under or in connection with these terms and conditions, the Client shall pay interest on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% per annum above the ECB base rate from time to time. Such interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. The Client shall pay the interest together with the overdue amount.
Accounts unpaid thirty (30) days after the date of invoice will be considered in default. If the Client in default maintains any information or files on SmartHost’s web space, SmartHost will, at its discretion, remove all such material from its web space. SmartHost is not responsible for any loss of data incurred due to the removal of the service. Removal of such material does not relieve the Client of the obligation to pay any outstanding charges assessed to the Client’s account. Cheques returned for insufficient funds will be assessed a return charge of €25 and the Client’s account will immediately be considered to be in default until full payment is received. Clients with accounts in default agree to pay SmartHost reasonable expenses, including legal fees and costs for collection by third-party agencies, incurred by SmartHost in enforcing these Terms.
3. Client Review
SmartHost will provide the Client with an opportunity to review the appearance and content of the website during the design phase and once the overall website development is completed. At the completion of the project, such materials will be deemed to be accepted and approved unless the Client notifies SmartHost otherwise within ten (10) days of the date the materials are made available to the Client.
4. Turnaround Time and Content Control
SmartHost will install and publicly post or supply the Client’s website by the date specified in the project proposal, or at the date agreed with Client upon SmartHost receiving initial payment, unless a delay is specifically requested by the Client and agreed by SmartHost.
In return, the Client agrees to provide SmartHost promptly with all necessary co-operation, information, materials and data, access to staff and timely decision-making which may be reasonably required by SmartHost for the performance of the Services. This shall include the Client delegating a single individual as a primary contact to aid SmartHost with progressing the commission in a satisfactory and expedient manner.
During the project, SmartHost will require the Client to provide website content; text, images, movies and sound files, along with any relevant background information.
5. Failure to provide required website content
SmartHost is a small business, and to remain efficient we must ensure that work we have programmed is carried out at the scheduled time. On occasions we may have to reject offers for other work and enquiries to ensure that your work is completed at the time arranged.
This is why we ask that the Client provides all the required information in advance. On any occasion where progress cannot be made with the Client’s website because we have not been given the required information in the agreed time frame, and we are delayed as result, we reserve the right to impose a surcharge of up to 25% of the Charges. If the Services involve Search Engine Optimisation we need the text content for the Client’s site in advance so that the SEO can be planned and completed efficiently.
If the Client agrees to provide us with the required information and subsequently fail to do within one week of project commencement we reserve the right to close the project and the balance remaining becomes payable immediately. Simply put, do not give us the go ahead to start until you are ready to do so.
NOTE: Text content must be delivered as a Microsoft Word, email (or similar) document with the pages in the supplied document representing the content of the relevant pages on your website. These pages must have the same titles as the agreed website pages. Contact us if you need clarification on this.
Using our content management system the Client is able to keep your content up to date itself.
6. Web Browsers
SmartHost makes every effort to ensure websites are designed to be viewed by the majority of visitors. Websites are designed to work with the most popular current browsers (e.g. Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge etc.). The Client agrees that SmartHost cannot guarantee correct functionality with all browser software across different operating systems.
SmartHost cannot accept responsibility for web pages which do not display acceptably in new versions of browsers released after the website has been designed and handed over to the Client. As such, SmartHost reserves the right to quote for any work involved in changing the website design or website code for it to work with updated browser software.
7. Termination
Termination of services by the Client must be requested in a written notice and will be effective on receipt of such notice. Email or telephone requests for termination of services will not be honoured until and unless confirmed in writing. The Client will be invoiced for work completed (including any expenses incurred, as outlined in clause 1) to the date of first notice of cancellation for payment in full within thirty (30) days.
8. Indemnity
All SmartHost services may be used for lawful purposes only. The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless SmartHost against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any and all actions or claims resulting from the Client’s use of SmartHost’s service.
9. Intellectual property
Background IP means any IP Rights, other than Foreground IP, that is used in connection with these Terms.
Foreground IP means any IP Rights that arise or are obtained or developed by, or by a contractor on behalf of, either party in respect of the services and deliverables under or in connection with these Terms.
IP Rights means patents, utility models, rights to inventions, copyright and neighbouring and related rights, trade marks and service marks, business names and domain names, rights in get-up and trade dress, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off or unfair competition, rights in designs, database rights, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including know-how and trade secrets), and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.
All Background IP, including but not limited to any IP Rights in data, files and graphic logos provided to SmartHost by the Client, is and shall remain the exclusive property of the party owning it (or, where applicable, the third party from whom its right to use the Background IP has derived).
The Client hereby grants to SmartHost a non-exclusive licence to publish and use such material, which may be sub-licensed to any contractor acting on behalf of SmartHost. The Client must obtain permission and rights to use any information or files that are copyrighted by a third party. The Client is further responsible for granting SmartHost permission and rights for use of the same. A contract for website design and/or placement shall be regarded as a guarantee by the Client to SmartHost that all such permissions and authorities have been obtained. Evidence of permissions and authorities may be requested. The Client shall indemnify and hold harmless SmartHost against all damages, losses and expenses arising as a result of any and all actions or claims that any materials provided to SmartHost by or on behalf of the Client infringe the IP Rights of a third party.
All Foreground IP shall vest in and be owned absolutely by the party creating or developing it. SmartHost hereby grants the Client a non-exclusive licence of such Foreground IP for the purpose of operating the website.
10. Confidentiality
Each party (the Receiving Party) shall use its reasonable endeavours to keep confidential all information and documentation disclosed by the other party (the Disclosing Party), before or after the date of these Terms, to the Receiving Party or of which the Receiving Party becomes aware which in each case relates to any software, operations, products, processes, dealings, trade secrets or the business of the Disclosing Party (including without limitation all associated software, specifications, designs and graphics) or which is identified by the Disclosing Party as confidential (the Confidential Information) and will not use any Confidential Information for any purpose other than the performance of its obligations under these Terms. The Receiving Party shall not disclose Confidential Information to any third party without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party. This clause shall survive the termination of these Terms for whatever cause.
During the term of these Terms the Receiving Party may disclose the Confidential Information to its employees and sub-contractors (any such person being referred to as the Recipient) to the extent that it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of these Terms. The Receiving Party shall procure that each Recipient is made aware of and complies with all the Receiving Party’s obligations of confidentiality under these Terms as if the Recipient was a party to these Terms.
The obligations in this clause 10 shall not apply to any Confidential Information which is:
at the date of these Terms already in, or at any time after the date of these Terms comes into, the public domain other than through breach of these Terms by the Receiving Party or any Recipient;
furnished to the Receiving Party or any Recipient without restriction by a third party having a bona fide right to do so; or
required to be disclosed by the Receiving Party by law or regulatory requirements, provided that the Receiving Party shall give the Disclosing Party as much notice as reasonably practicable of the requirement for such disclosure.
All tangible forms of Confidential Information, including, without limitation, all summaries, copies, excerpts of any Confidential Information whether prepared by the Disclosing Party or not, shall be the sole property of the Disclosing Party, and shall be immediately delivered by the Receiving Party to the Disclosing Party upon the Disclosing Party’s request or the termination of these Terms (whichever is earlier). The Receiving Party shall not copy, reproduce, publish or distribute in whole or in part any Confidential Information without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party.
11. Data protection
For the purposes of this clause, Data Protection Law means the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Data Protection Act 2018, any other data protection and/or privacy laws applicable to SmartHost, and any applicable laws replacing, amending, extending, re-enacting or consolidating the above from time to time.
Both parties will comply with all applicable requirements of Data Protection Law. This clause is in addition to, and does not relieve, remove or replace, a party’s obligations or rights under Data Protection Law.
The Client will comply with Data Protection Law in connection with the collection, storage and processing of personal data (which shall include you providing all the required fair processing information to, and obtaining all necessary consent from, data subjects), and the exercise and performance of your respective rights and obligations under these terms and conditions, including all instructions given by the Client to SmartHost and maintaining all relevant regulatory registrations and notifications as required under Data Protection Law.
The parties acknowledge that if SmartHost processes any personal data on the Client’s behalf when performing its obligations under this agreement, the Client is the controller and SmartHost is the processor for the purposes of Data Protection Law.
The scope, nature and purpose of processing by SmartHost, the duration of the processing and the types of personal data and categories of data subject are set out in our Privacy Notice and the project quotation.
In relation to the processing of personal data under these terms and conditions, SmartHost shall:
process personal data on the Client’s behalf only on and in accordance with the Client’s documented instructions as set out in this clause 11 (as updated from time to time by agreement between the parties), unless required to do so by applicable law; in such a case, we shall inform you of that legal requirement before processing, unless that law prohibits such information on important grounds of public interest;
ensure that persons authorised to process personal data have committed themselves to confidentiality or are under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality;
implement and maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures in relation to the processing of personal data; you hereby acknowledge that you are satisfied that our processing operations and technical and organisational measures are suitable for the purposes for which you propose to use our services and engage us to process the personal data;
promptly refer all data subject requests we receive to you and, taking into account the nature of the processing, assist you by appropriate technical and organisational measures, insofar as this is possible, for the fulfilment of your obligation to respond to requests for exercising the data subject’s rights laid down in Chapter III of the GDPR;
assist you in ensuring compliance with the obligations pursuant to Articles 32 to 36 of the GDPR, taking into account the nature of processing and the information available to us and only in the event that you cannot reasonably be expected to comply with the requirements of Articles 32 to 36 without our information and/or assistance (e.g. you do not possess or otherwise have access to the information requested). We may charge our reasonable costs on a time and materials basis in providing you with such assistance;
retain personal data in accordance with the retention periods set out in our Privacy Notice;
make available to you all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations laid down in Article 28(3) and allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections, conducted by you or another auditor mandated by you provided: (i) you give us at least 7 days prior notice of an audit or inspection being required; (ii) you give us a reasonable period of time to comply with any information request; (iii) ensuring that all information obtained or generated by you or your auditor(s) in connection with such information requests, inspections and audits is kept strictly confidential; (iv) ensuring that such audit or inspection is undertaken during normal business hours, with minimal disruption to our business; (v) no more than one audit and one information request is permitted per calendar year; and (vi) paying our reasonable costs for assisting with the provision of information and allowing for and contributing to inspections and audits;
take reasonable steps to ensure the reliability of anyone who we allow to have access to personal data, ensuring that in each case access is limited to those individuals who need to know or access the relevant personal data, as necessary for the purposes of the Terms; and
notify the Client without delay (and if possible within 24 hours) upon us or any sub-processor becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting personal data processed on the Client’s behalf, providing the Client with sufficient information to allow you to meet any obligations to report or inform data subjects of the personal data breach.
The Client hereby gives SmartHost consent to engage sub-processors for processing of personal data on your behalf. We shall inform the Client before transferring any personal data processed on your behalf to a new sub-processor. Following receipt of such information you shall notify us if you object to the new sub-processor. If you do not object to the sub-processor within seven calendar days of receiving the information, you shall be deemed to have accepted the sub-processor. If you have raised a reasonable objection to the new sub-processor, and the parties have failed to agree on a solution within reasonable time, the Client shall have the right to terminate these Terms with a notice period determined by the Client, without prejudice to any other remedies available under law or contract. During the notice period, we shall not transfer any personal data processed on the Client’s behalf to the sub-processor.
SmartHost shall enter into appropriate written agreements with all of its sub-processors on terms substantially similar to these Terms. We shall remain primarily liable to the Client for the performance or non-performance of the sub-processors’ obligations. Upon your request, we are obliged to provide information regarding any sub-processor, including name, address and the processing carried out by the sub-processor.
We will not transfer personal data processed on your behalf to a country outside Ireland which is not recognised by the European Commission to have an adequate level of protection in accordance with Data Protection Law unless the transfer is effected by such legally enforceable mechanism(s) for transfers of personal data as may be permitted under Data Protection Laws from time to time.
12. Standard Media Delivery
Unless otherwise specified in the project quotation, this Agreement assumes that any text will be provided by the Client in electronic format (Word or Google Docs delivered via USB drive, e-mail or FTP) and that all photographs and other graphics will be provided physically in high quality print suitable for scanning or electronically in .gif, .jpeg, .png or .tiff format. Although every reasonable attempt shall be made by SmartHost to return to the Client any images or printed material provided for use in creation of the Client’s website, such return cannot be guaranteed.
13. Design Credit and Marketing
A link to SmartHost will appear in either small type or by a small graphic at the bottom of the Client’s website. If a graphic is used, it will be designed to fit in with the overall site design. If a client requests that the design credit be removed, a nominal fee of 10% of the total development charges will be applied. When total development charges are less than €5000, a fixed fee of €500 will be applied.
The Client agrees that the website developed for the Client may be presented in SmartHost’s portfolio, and hereby grants SmartHost a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use its name, logo and branding for advertising, marketing and promotional activities.
14. Third Party Servers
SmartHost designs and tests websites to work on its own servers hosted with SmartHost.ie. SmartHost cannot guarantee correct functionality if the Client wishes to use a third-party server. In the event that the Client is using a third-party server, it is the responsibility of the Client and any third party host to ensure that the server is compatible with the website. SmartHost will assist the Client to configure the server if this is required. However, this may be subject to additional charges.
If the Client’s website is to be installed on a third-party server, SmartHost must be granted temporary read/write access to the Client’s storage directories which must be accessible via FTP. Access to mySQL / MariaDB databases must aldo be provided. Depending on the specific nature of the project, other resources might also need to be configured on the server. Any time required to configure, install or set up the Client’s website on another providers system may be subject to additional charges.
15. Post-Placement Alterations
In the event that the Client wishes to make alterations to the website once installed, the Client agrees to give SmartHost the opportunity to quote to provide such alterations. There is no obligation on the Client to accept the quote provided by SmartHost.
SmartHost cannot accept responsibility for any alterations caused by the Client or a third party occurring to the website once installed. Such alterations include, but are not limited to additions, modifications or deletions.
16. Domain Names
SmartHost may purchase domain names on behalf of the Client. Payment in relation to, and renewal of, those domain names is the responsibility of the Client. The loss, cancellation or otherwise of the domain brought about by non or late payment is not the responsibility of SmartHost. The Client should keep a record of the due dates for payment to ensure that payment is received in good time.
17. Third Party Products
Any third party software which SmartHost agrees to provide shall be supplied in accordance with the relevant licensor’s standard terms. The one-off licence fee for such third party software is included in the Charges payable pursuant to clause 1.
18. General
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous representations, promises, assurances, warranties, understandings and agreements between them, whether written or oral, relating to their subject matter.
A failure or delay by a party to exercise any right or remedy provided under this agreement or by law shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict any further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.
No variation of these Terms shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the parties (or their authorised representatives).
A notice given to a party under or in connection with these Terms shall be in writing and in English, by email or next working day delivery service. Notices to the Client shall be sent to the email address or address last notified to SmartHost. Notices to SmartHost shall be sent to the email address or address set out at https://www.SmartHost.ie/contact.
19. Digital Marketing
SmartHost will honour the components of your chosen digital marketing scope of work, providing an agreement to a minimum 3 months contract is served and monthly payments are received in advance. In the event that payment is not received on time, we regret that further work will be halted until this is rectified.
20. Liability
Nothing in these Terms shall operate to exclude or limit either party’s liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence; (b) fraud; or (c) any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
SmartHost shall not be liable under or in connection with these Terms or any collateral contract for any: (a) loss of revenue; (b) loss of actual or anticipated profits; (c) loss of contracts; (d) loss of business; (e) loss of opportunity; (f) loss of goodwill or reputation; (g) loss of, damage to or corruption of data; (h) any indirect or consequential loss; (i) loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy, omission, delay or error, whether as a result of negligence or other cause in the production of the website; or (j) loss or damage to the Client’s artwork/photos supplied for the website, whether as a result of negligence or otherwise.
The entire liability of SmartHost to the Client in respect of any claim whatsoever or breach of this Agreement, whether or not arising out of negligence, shall be limited to the charges paid for the Services under this Agreement in respect of which the breach has arisen.
21. Severability
In the event any one or more of the provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall be unimpaired and the Agreement shall not be void for this reason alone. Such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a mutually acceptable valid, legal and enforceable provision, which comes closest to the intention of the parties underlying the original provision.
22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of Ireland.
Each party irrevocably agrees that the Irish courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms or their subject matter or formation.
Privacy Policy for SmartHost Web Services Limited
At SmartHost, accessible from www.smarthost.ie, one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by SmartHost and how we use it.
If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us.
Consent
By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.
Information we collect
The personal information that you are asked to provide, and the reasons why you are asked to provide it, will be made clear to you at the point we ask you to provide your personal information.
If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide.
When you register for an Account, we may ask for your contact information, including items such as name, company name, address, email address, and telephone number.
How we use your information
We use the information we collect in various ways, including to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain our website
- Improve, personalize, and expand our website
- Understand and analyze how you use our website
- Develop new products, services, features, and functionality
- Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes
- Send you emails
- Find and prevent fraud
Log Files
SmartHost follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this and a part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.
Cookies and Web Beacons
Like any other website, SmartHost uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information.
Advertising Partners Privacy Policies
You may consult this list to find the Privacy Policy for each of the advertising partners of SmartHost.
Third-party ad servers or ad networks uses technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on SmartHost, which are sent directly to users’ browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit.
Note that SmartHost has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
Third-Party Privacy Policies
SmartHost’s Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options.
You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.
GDPR Data Protection Rights
We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.
Children
Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity. SmartHost does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 16. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.
