Okay, it’s a year since I started this thread… things rather got away from me and I never got around to implementing my EE install/redesign as planned. Now I’m back on track and although I thought I’d found a host that was EE-friendly, it turns out that they aren’t after all (no URL segment support).
So I’m back looking for an alternative, and that lead me back to the thorny issue of the UK’s data protection act, which never really got resolved in this thread last year.
To recap: I’d love to use EngineHosting, but the DPA would seem to preclude it.
The following two links seems to give a pretty clear(ish) summary of it’s strictures:
A very brief introduction to data protection
International transfers of personal data
(both from website-law.co.uk)
An interesting bit in the second link mentions the Safe Harbour agreement that US companies have the option of signing up to and which gives them the status of providing an ‘adequate level of protection’. Is this something that EngineHosting has signed up for? (Given that most people seem never to have heard of it, I assume not).
The prohibition on keeping personal data outside of the EU (technically: the EEA) is reasonably clear although the inclusion of a statement at the point of signup that data will reside in the US might cut it… Harder to fathom is whether the sort of information generally recorded on a blog’s commenting system—which I guess would be username, email address and website URL if appropriate—would constitute ‘personal data’.
This is all rather outside the scope of the EE forums, I realise, but I’d be very interested to hear about any other UK EE-users’ experiences in this area especially if they have concrete knowledge.
And if anyone has recommendations for a really good EE-friendly host in the UK then do share.
Cheers
