Backup and data retention policy
What we back up, how long we keep it, and the exact days on which data is destroyed. Dates, not adjectives.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026.
What is backed up
- Your site's files, including uploads, themes and plugins.
- Your site's database.
- Our own platform database, which holds your account and billing records.
Backups run daily and go off-site, to storage held with a different company from the one running the server. A backup that only exists on the machine it is protecting is not a backup, and a backup held inside the same account that could be terminated is not much better.
Backups are encrypted with AES-256 on our server, before they leave it. The storage provider holds ciphertext it cannot read.
How long backups are kept
14 days. One plan, one number. A backup older than that has rolled off and cannot be recovered, including by us.
That is the honest trade: 14 days catches the realistic cases, a bad plugin update or a mistaken deletion you notice within a fortnight. It does not catch a corruption you discover four months later. If you need longer, keep your own copy as well, and you should keep your own copy regardless.
Restores, and how we know they work
You can ask for a restore inside the support window and we will do it at no charge. Backups are verified two ways: by checksum on both copies, and by an actual test restore into a scratch environment. A backup job that reports success is not evidence; a restore that produces a working site is.
If a backup is broken we will tell you it is broken. We are not liable for data loss beyond restoring the most recent backup we hold, and if that one is damaged we will say so rather than pretend otherwise.
When data is destroyed: non-payment
These days are counted from the first failed renewal payment, and we email you before each step.
| Day | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0 | Renewal payment fails. We email you with the reason where it is safe to state it, a link to update your card, and the suspension date named explicitly. |
| 7 | Suspended on a 1-month term. The site serves a holding page. Files, database and DNS are untouched. Backups continue. |
| 14 | Suspended on a 3, 6 or 12-month term. |
| 45 | Terminated. A final backup is pushed to cold storage first, then the site leaves the server. |
| 75 | Purged. Files, database, backups, DNS records and credentials destroyed. |
Pay at any point before day 45 and the site comes back, usually within five minutes and without you needing to ask. Between day 45 and day 75 it can still be recovered, but you have to ask us and it is a manual restore rather than an automatic one. After day 75 it is gone. We will not be able to help you, and that is a deliberate consequence of promising deletion rather than an accident.
When data is destroyed: you cancel
Different, and gentler. People who cancel meant to, so we do not treat them like a debt case.
- The site runs to the end of the term you have paid for.
- 14 days after that, everything is purged: files, database, backups, DNS, credentials.
Export before then. Ask and we will help, including a full migration to another host at no charge.
What we keep after everything else is gone
One thing, and we would rather name it than let you discover it.
Invoices and tax records for six years from the end of the year they relate to, because Maltese VAT law requires it. These hold your account details, your name, billing address, what you bought and what you paid. They do not contain anything from inside your website. This is a legal obligation, so it survives a deletion request, and a request to erase it is one we are not permitted to grant.
Our own platform data
Continuous transaction logging plus full and differential backups, held in two locations with different providers, one of them outside the account that runs the servers. Restores are tested. IfBorgohost ever stops operating you get notice, an export and help moving, not a switched-off server.
Questions: support@borgohost.com.