Privacy & no-KYC

What is offshore hosting?

Short answer

Offshore hosting means placing a server in a jurisdiction other than your own — usually one outside the Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances and outside EU data-retention rules. The purpose is legal, not technical: compelling data from that server requires working through mutual legal assistance treaties rather than issuing a domestic order.

The practical effect is friction and transparency. A domestic order to a domestic provider can be fast and secret. An MLAT request to a foreign jurisdiction is slow, requires dual criminality in most treaties, and frequently fails for civil matters entirely.

What offshore hosting is not: immunity. Local law applies to the server, illegal content is still illegal, and a provider that respects valid process will still respect it. What changes is which court has to issue the order and how long it takes.

See also: Offshore hosting · Fourteen Eyes · MLAT