Ownware Cloud: Your data when a Plan ends
Part of the Ownware Cloud Terms of Service · version 1.0 · published 27 September 2026 · in force from that date
The short version
- Your data is yours. Export everything in your Account gives you all of it at any time, until your Instance is deleted, including while the Instance is closed.
- When a Plan ends, because you cancelled or because payment stopped, your Instance closes. Your data is kept, untouched and exportable, for 30 days.
- We email you 7 days before deletion. Then we delete your Instance and its data, and backup copies roll off within 30 days more.
1. If you cancel
| When | What happens | Can you export? |
|---|---|---|
| You press Cancel | Your Plan runs to the end of the period you paid for, or to the end of your free trial. Nothing changes meanwhile. | Yes |
| End of that period (day 0) | Your Instance closes: its web address shows a notice page instead of the app. | Yes, from your Account |
| Day 0 to day 30 | Your data is kept exactly as it was. | Yes |
| Day 23 | We email you that deletion is 7 days away. If our job runs late, you always get at least a full week's notice. | Yes |
| Day 30 | We delete your Instance: its database, its files and its copy of the app. | No |
| By day 60 | The last backup copies containing your data have been deleted on the normal rotation. | No |
2. If a payment fails
| When | What happens | Can you export? |
|---|---|---|
| A renewal payment fails | The Merchant of Record emails you and retries four times over about two weeks. Your Instance keeps working normally. Updating your payment method restores the Plan with nothing lost. | Yes |
| The last retry fails (day 0) | Your Instance closes. A later successful payment reopens it. | Yes, from your Account |
| Day 0 onwards | As in section 1: 30 days kept, a warning email at day 23, deletion at day 30, backups gone by day 60. | Yes, until day 30 |
A closed Instance never loses data on its own. Only the deletion step above deletes it.
3. If we end the Plan
- For a breach of the Acceptable Use Policy or the Terms: section 1 still applies, unless the law or a court order stops us giving you access, or the data itself is unlawful to hold or return.
- If we stop offering the Cloud or an app on it: at least 90 days' notice, your Instance keeps working and exportable during it, you receive the self-host licence for that app, and then section 1 applies.
4. If you want your data deleted sooner
Once a Plan is cancelled or closed, you can delete the Instance yourself from your Account, straight away. The Account asks you to confirm first, because deletion can't be undone. Backup copies then roll off within 30 days.
5. Backups
- Every Instance's database and files are backed up every night on the server, integrity-checked, and kept for 14 days.
- Encrypted backup copies are kept for up to 30 days, then deleted.
- Each Instance's backups are separate files. Once your Instance is deleted, its backups are put beyond use: we don't restore, read or use them for anything, and they are deleted when they reach the end of the rotation above.
- After that, your data can't be recovered by anyone, including us.
6. What we keep after deletion, and why
| Record | Kept for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A short audit record of your Instance: its address, your Account email, and the dates it was created, paid, closed and deleted | At most 4 years after your last Plan ends | To answer billing questions and disputes |
| Your self-host licence record, if you reached twelve paid months | As long as the licence exists | So you can get your licence and downloads again |
| Server logs of requests to the Cloud (IP address, time, address requested) | At most 30 days | Security and fault-finding |
| The Merchant of Record's own records | Under its own privacy policy | It is the seller of record |
None of these contains the business data inside your Instance.
7. Your self-host licence
If you paid for twelve months of a Plan, the self-host licence for that app stays yours after the Plan ends, and the export gives you everything you need to run the app on your own server.