Forced migration at HostEurope: When emails suddenly end up in the cloud

There are decisions that self-employed people like to put off because they are inconvenient. Changing hosting providers is undoubtedly one of them. As long as the websites are running, the emails are arriving and the bills are being paid, you think: Why touch something that works?

But sometimes you realize too late that "working" no longer means "right". My web hosting provider Hosteurope was of the opinion that it had to force its customers to migrate to Microsoft 365 for a fee without their active consent. The following is my experience, which ended for me with a migration to another hosting provider.

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The beginning of the end

I was a customer of HostEurope. It was a calm business relationship - businesslike, unagitated, you paid, they delivered. And then came the first email: They wanted to switch the mail accounts to Microsoft Exchange in the future. That was about six months ago. A second email followed a week ago, then another three days before the deadline.

Maybe four or five notifications in total - politely worded, but inconspicuous - at least among the more than 1,100 emails that I have saved in my inbox in the context of Hosteurope. I read them the way you read system emails: half attentively, half with the thought "I'll have to look at it later". But that "later" never came until it was too late.

Then, one morning, I realized that I wanted my emails to be stored in the Microsoft cloud. Just like that. Without me ever having actively clicked "Yes, please" anywhere. And that's when I realized that while you now get your own cookie box for every invisible tracking pixel on the Internet, a simple announcement is apparently enough for HostEurope to transfer entire mailboxes with personal data to a US company. Completely without consent.

I had to smile. Something like that is almost Loriot-worthy.

"Mr. Schall, you just need to migrate your soul for a moment, we've already prepared it."
"I see. And where can I click?"
"Nowhere. We've taken care of that for you."

Data protection with double standards

I honestly ask myself: how does this fit together? If I want to look up a recipe for spaghetti on any website, I'm asked about cookies, third-party providers and "legitimate interests". But when it comes to my business emails - with customer data, invoices, contract details - it's apparently just allowed to migrate. Perhaps this is somehow legally covered. Humanly, it seems weird.

I would have liked to have been asked. A simple "Would you like that?" would have been enough. I would probably have declined, but at least I would have made the decision consciously.

Involuntary migration with consequences

Technically, the changeover at HostEurope apparently went smoothly - at least from the provider's point of view. However, what was hardly taken into account was the direct impact on customers like me, who don't want to store their emails in a global cloud solution. It was therefore immediately clear to me that I needed to move my email infrastructure completely to an alternative provider - and I needed to do so immediately in order to regain control over my communication channels. This decision was not a question of convenience, but simply of digital self-determination.

As a result, I had to initiate the entire mail migration on the same day, including moving the domain, setting up a new server, connecting my registration and licensing servers and setting up all accounts again. This was not a planned transition, but an ad-hoc emergency project that took me two full working days. There were also short-term disruptions - for example, individual customers who were unable to connect to my license server for a few hours. Not because something was broken, but because the changeover had to be made at such short notice that I couldn't communicate it in time. This is annoying - and could easily have been avoided if HostEurope had been better prepared or offered better options.

The termination: 28 contracts, 28 times "Next"

The next act in this story: the dismissal.

Because if you're going to be overwhelmed, you at least want to stop properly.

I logged into the backend - the HIS, as HostEurope calls it - and opened the "Contracts" section. And there I was almost struck dumb: 28 individual contracts. Each one had to be canceled separately. Each with its own confirmation section. Each with a little question: "Why do you want to cancel?"

If you select "no specification", it is faster.

If you answer honestly, for example "Change provider", a new window opens: Where are you changing to? Why exactly? What could we improve?

I thought to myself: How about a one-click termination?

But no, I clicked on like a hamster through a particularly cunningly constructed labyrinth. After half an hour, I was through.

And to be honest: exhausted.

What really annoys me

It's not the price. Nor is it the fact that technology sometimes hitches. It's the lack of respect.

Respect for the customer's time. Respect for what data protection actually means. Respect for the fact that not everyone who runs a domain wants to test SSH commands in their free time.

I never have anything against modern systems. But I do object when someone quietly tells me that my data will be stored somewhere else in future - and that I should adapt.

The cost issue: the creeping more

Over the years, my package with HostEurope became more expensive. First very slightly, then a little more, then there were individual items: SSL separately, domains separately, mail accounts separately. In the end, there was a sum that no longer felt like infrastructure, but rather like a piecemeal system that you have to click together yourself - and whose price you only understand if you maintain monthly tables.

Transparency looks different. Transparency means: one look - and I know what I'm paying for. If I have to go through three menus and know five different terms, I've crossed the threshold.

The silent farewell

At the end of this chapter, there is no anger, but disillusionment. I was a HostEurope customer for a long time, and many things were good. But the direction has changed. Today, what used to be a service provider is now a system provider with its own plan. And anyone who doesn't fit in is migrated, switched, redirected. I have decided to no longer be a part of it.

I moved my data, my domains and my emails elsewhere - to where I am seen as a customer, not as a data source. I left quietly, but with a clear feeling: I want to go back to work, not administration.

I'm not writing this to badmouth anyone. HostEurope has done a lot of things right, but they have lost sight of the people who use their services. For self-employed people like me, who simply have to work.

Those who run websites and mail accounts don't want adventure, they want reliability. I hope HostEurope finds this compass again. And I wish everyone who is still a customer there good nerves - or even better: a backup in good time. After all, anyone who sends their emails into foreign clouds without being asked will have lost sight of the sun at some point.

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Current survey on digitalization in everyday life

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The thing with the code - and the little surprise

On the day of the changeover, I thought to myself, well, at least give it a try. I wanted to know whether the new Exchange system would work in any way at all. So I grabbed two of my mail accounts and - following the instructions - integrated them into Apple Mail. The procedure was very simple: enter my e-mail address, then a window appeared in which I had to enter a code that I received by e-mail. Authentication successful, account created - so far, so good. But no emails arrived. No beep. No pling. Nothing.

On one account, two messages appeared: one from 2022 and one from 2023. Where they suddenly came from, only Microsoft knows. But current emails? Not a chance. The second account was completely silent. The servers were silent. In the webmailer, however, I could see that new messages were arriving there - just not in Apple Mail. Which meant that this attempt to at least make the transition reasonably smooth had also failed. At some point you wonder what else is supposed to go wrong until someone notices.

Data in the cloud? Not with me.

But even if everything had worked perfectly from a technical point of view - and that was obviously not the case - I would have stopped at this point anyway. Because at the end of the day, I don't want my emails to be stored in a cloud whose location, access options and security mechanisms I can neither influence nor check. I want to know where my data is. And who could theoretically view it. And if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that anyone who bears responsibility - for themselves, their customers or their company - shouldn't blindly put themselves in someone else's hands.

I already have my own blog on my blog Articles on the topic of data sovereignty in my blog. There, I explained in detail why I take a fundamentally critical view of cloud services - and the risks they entail for self-employed people and small businesses. So it would be absurd, to say the least, if I of all people moved all my business emails - including customer correspondence, invoices and contracts - to the Microsoft cloud without complaint. No thanks. That goes against everything I've advocated in recent years. And that's why it was clear to me at that moment: I'm pulling the ripcord - completely.

15 years of loyalty - and what remains?

I was not a casual customer. I was someone who trusted HostEurope's stability and service almost blindly for over a decade and a half. During this time, I must have accumulated several thousand euros - through domains, hosting packages, additional options and email extensions - which I left there. Not only do you build up trust over such a long period of time - you also develop a certain calmness: "It's already running." And that was probably my mistake.

Because if you then realize that your own loyalty is trampled underfoot at the crucial moment - with automated migration processes, poor communication and questionable transparency with personal data - then it's not just anger that remains in the end. But also the feeling that you were simply replaceable.

A forced migration with an unexpected destination

Ultimately, this forced mail migration didn't lead me deeper into the cloud, but on the contrary: to a complete change of provider. If I'm going to be forced, then please do it in the right direction. I have now found a new hosting partner who offers me a significantly larger service package - with a much faster server, more control over my infrastructure and all at a quarter of the price. Seen in this light, this involuntary escalation was perhaps even a stroke of luck in the end -

even if I would have liked to do without the circumstances.

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Frequently asked questions

1. What exactly happened at HostEurope that was so serious?
   HostEurope has decided to migrate all email accounts to Microsoft Exchange Online - in other words, to the Microsoft cloud. The existing email infrastructure was quickly replaced by a new system that no longer runs locally on HostEurope's own servers, but entirely in the Microsoft infrastructure. For the customers affected, this meant a far-reaching change - with new processes, login procedures, a different level of data protection and completely different technical requirements. Particularly critical: this changeover was carried out without the genuine consent of the users.
2. Was there no prior information from HostEurope?
   Yes, there were emails. The first one came around six months before the changeover, followed by others a few weeks and days before the deadline. However, with a total of 28 booked contracts in my account, such information sometimes goes unnoticed - especially as HostEurope has not provided any prominent placement or separate consent requirement. There was no explicit opt-in, no conspicuous warning in the dashboard, no technical query such as "Would you like to move your email accounts to the Microsoft cloud?" - Instead, it was simply changed.
3. Why is the issue of data protection so sensitive in this migration?
   Email accounts often contain sensitive, personal or even confidential business information. When such data is outsourced to a cloud - and to the infrastructure of a US corporation to boot - this not only affects technical details, but also fundamental questions of data sovereignty and legal responsibility. Without an active opt-in, this is simply not acceptable from the perspective of many self-employed people and entrepreneurs - especially as the General Data Protection Regulation and ePrivacy Directive place high demands on the handling of personal data.
4. Why didn't you simply continue to use your e-mail accounts in the new system?
   Even though I would not have accepted a cloud solution in the end, I even tried it. I integrated two email accounts into Apple Mail according to the official HostEurope/Microsoft instructions, including verification using a one-time code. The setup went through - but no e-mails arrived. Only two old emails (from 2022 and 2023) were visible for one account, and nothing at all for the other. A functioning email looks different. This also led to my decision to completely part ways with the provider.
5. Has active consent (opt-in) been obtained for data transfer to the cloud?
   No - and that is precisely one of the main points of criticism. In everyday digital life, I have to give my consent for every cookie banner before any tracking data can be set. But when entire email accounts are migrated - sometimes with very personal and commercially sensitive content - the transfer takes place silently, without an active opt-in. This is out of all proportion. Even if it were somehow legally covered, it is very questionable from an ethical and business perspective.
6. What particularly bothered you about the termination of the contracts?
   Each individual contract must be canceled manually. There is no collective termination, no multiple selection menu - each contract must be clicked on individually, clicked through and confirmed. You are asked each time why you want to cancel, with selection fields and sub-items. If you click on "Change to another provider", for example, they also want to know which one. You really have to click through. It's time-consuming, intrusive and shows how little value is placed on genuine customer orientation here.
7. Is your article to be understood as a reckoning or "revenge action"?
   Quite clearly: No. The article is a factual, personal account of my experiences as a self-employed person who actually has other tasks than dealing with hosting and mail migrations. It is not a shitstorm, but a report on my experiences - written from a position of calm, but with a clear stance. The criticism of HostEurope is well-founded and concerns specific points such as transparency, data protection, support processes and technical implementation.
8. What exactly do you dislike about cloud email services?
   Cloud email services always mean that I no longer know exactly where my data is located, who can access it and under what legal framework it is stored. Particularly with providers based in the USA, there are still uncertainties regarding access options for authorities - even beyond the GDPR. For me - and many other freelancers, consultants and creative professionals - this is a significant disadvantage. I don't want my data to be "somewhere", I want it to be traceable on servers that are not part of a global corporation.
9. Would other providers have done better?
   There are certainly similar developments among other providers - the trend towards the cloud is noticeable throughout the industry. But the decisive factor is how such a migration is implemented. Transparency, consent, choice and customer proximity are essential here. If a provider ignores or trivializes these points, it puts itself on the sidelines - especially with customers who are technically savvy and value control. In my opinion, HostEurope implemented this migration too technocratically, too intransparently and too patronizingly.
10. Why is the whole thing not just a "technical detail"?
    Because it has far-reaching consequences in practice. If email communication is disrupted, then in case of doubt all customer contact comes to a standstill. Quotations, invoices, support requests, accounting data - everything is sent by email. If a service provider not only makes technical changes here, but also makes far-reaching changes to the infrastructure and data protection, this is no longer a side issue, but a central pillar of digital independence.
11. How important is data sovereignty to you as a self-employed person?
    Extremely important. I not only run a software company, but also a publishing house. In both areas, I process confidential information - customer data, manuscripts, access data, license information. If I store this data in a cloud whose framework conditions I cannot control, then I am effectively giving away part of my professional identity. This may be practicable for large companies - but for me as an entrepreneur with a clear attitude, this is not an option.
12. What advice would you give to other self-employed people who are now facing similar decisions?
    I would advise taking the time to understand things - even if they seem technical. The decision for or against a provider should not only be based on price and speed, but also on transparency, control and integrity. If you want to remain independent in the long term, you need to address issues such as data sovereignty, access control, backup strategies and technical dependencies at an early stage. And if a provider - as in this case - pushes through changes without clear dialog, it may be time to question the business relationship.