{
  "slug": "hover",
  "category": "domain-registrars",
  "name": "Hover",
  "description": "Canadian domain registrar owned by Tucows, offering domain registration with free WHOIS privacy on supported extensions and email hosting.",
  "website": "https://www.hover.com",
  "license": null,
  "platforms": [],
  "jurisdiction": {
    "code": "CA",
    "name": "Canada",
    "eyes": "Five Eyes",
    "eu": false,
    "gdpr": false,
    "cloud_act": null
  },
  "pick": false,
  "pick_reason": null,
  "disclosure": null,
  "grade": "F",
  "score": 36,
  "coverage": 100,
  "summary": "Hover scores 36 out of 100 (grade F) on the domain registrars criteria. It meets 2 of 12 criteria: TLS configuration and two-factor login. It partly meets transparency report, tells users about requests, security headers, Free WHOIS privacy, honest renewal pricing and transfer and registry lock. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and independent audit. It is based in Canada: Five Eyes member. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.",
  "url": "https://privacyratings.com/domain-registrars/hover/",
  "markdown": "https://privacyratings.com/domain-registrars/hover/index.md",
  "answers": {
    "open_source": {
      "title": "Open source",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Closed source."
    },
    "no_trackers": {
      "title": "No trackers or telemetry",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://www.hover.com/privacy",
      "note": "The home page loads Google Tag Manager, and the privacy policy lists Google Analytics and Hotjar."
    },
    "no_ads": {
      "title": "No ads or data sales",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://www.hover.com/privacy",
      "note": "The privacy policy lists Facebook Ads, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads and Microsoft Ads among the services used, though registration data is never sold."
    },
    "independent_audit": {
      "title": "Independent audit",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "No independent audit is published."
    },
    "transparency_report": {
      "title": "Transparency report",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://www.hover.com/privacy",
      "note": "The privacy policy says law enforcement and court requests are evaluated case by case. No request counts are published."
    },
    "user_notice": {
      "title": "Tells users about requests",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://www.hover.com/privacy",
      "note": "The privacy policy says users may be notified of requests depending on the circumstances."
    },
    "tls": {
      "title": "TLS configuration",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=www.hover.com&hideResults=on",
      "note": "Grade A+"
    },
    "security_headers": {
      "title": "Security headers",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=www.hover.com",
      "note": "Grade B (70/100+)"
    },
    "web_standards": {
      "title": "Modern web standards",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "pending",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Not tested yet."
    },
    "free_whois_privacy": {
      "title": "Free WHOIS privacy",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://support.hover.com/support/solutions/articles/201000064738-domain-whois-privacy",
      "note": "Free and on by default, but not available for every extension."
    },
    "at_cost_renewals": {
      "title": "Honest renewal pricing",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://www.hover.com/domain-pricing",
      "note": "Many extensions, including .com, renew at the registration price, but some such as .org and .me have first-year discounts."
    },
    "two_factor": {
      "title": "Two-factor login",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://support.hover.com/support/solutions/articles/201000064727-hover-security-standards-and-best-practices",
      "note": "Two-step sign in uses an authenticator app, with email codes as the default."
    },
    "registry_lock": {
      "title": "Transfer and registry lock",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://support.hover.com/support/solutions/articles/201000064727-hover-security-standards-and-best-practices",
      "note": "Transfer lock is supported on every domain that allows it. No registry lock service is documented."
    }
  },
  "tests": {
    "ssllabs": "A+",
    "observatory": "B",
    "internetnl_web": null,
    "internetnl_mail": null,
    "trackers": [
      {
        "name": "Google Fonts",
        "host": "fonts.googleapis.com",
        "effect": "none"
      },
      {
        "name": "Google Tag Manager",
        "host": "www.googletagmanager.com",
        "effect": "no"
      }
    ],
    "tested_at": "2026-10-01T06:38:52.921Z"
  },
  "last_modified": "2026-10-01T06:56:31Z"
}