Law & jurisdiction
What content is not allowed on your servers?
Child sexual abuse material, which we report to the appropriate authority. Malware command-and-control, ransomware infrastructure and exploit kits. Phishing and credential harvesting. Spam and unsolicited bulk mail. Attacks originating from your instance. Content illegal in the jurisdiction hosting it. Everything else lawful is permitted, including content other providers refuse.
The line is active harm to third parties, not offensiveness, controversy or commercial inconvenience. Political speech, security research, adult material that is lawful where it is hosted, cryptocurrency infrastructure, privacy services, competitive intelligence and journalism are all normal workloads here.
We do not scan your storage, inspect your traffic or profile what you run. Enforcement is complaint-driven and evidence-driven, which is the only approach compatible with not surveilling customers.
- Prohibited: CSAM, malware C2, ransomware, phishing, spam, outbound attacks
- Prohibited: proof-of-work mining on shared hardware, for neighbour impact rather than ideology
- Permitted: VPNs, Tor relays and bridges, scraping of public data, adult content lawful in the host jurisdiction, security research with written authorisation, iGaming where licensed
- Exit relays: permitted in approved jurisdictions with a published abuse contact
7 answers in Law & jurisdiction
- Is offshore hosting legal? Yes. Renting a server in another country is an ordinary commercial transaction, and no jurisdiction we operate in prohibits it. Offshore hosting chang…
- Does the DMCA apply to offshore hosting? The DMCA is United States copyright statute. Its notice-and-takedown procedure and safe harbour apply to service providers situated in the United Stat…
- What happens if you receive a subpoena or court order? We assess whether it is valid legal process from a court with jurisdiction over OnionVPS. If it is, we comply with exactly what is ordered and nothing…
- What is an MLAT and why does it matter for hosting? A mutual legal assistance treaty is the formal channel through which one country asks another to gather evidence on its behalf. It matters because a f…
- How do you handle abuse complaints? Complaints are triaged by evidence, not by volume. Automated copyright notices to non-US locations are forwarded to you for information and no action …
- Will my server be suspended if someone complains about it? Not for a single unverified complaint. Suspension is reserved for active, ongoing harm: an instance participating in an attack, distributing malware, …