Brexit and Freethought

On the 23rd of June 2016, the United Kingdom shocked the world by voting to leave the European Union. This vote will inevitably lead to significant change and uncertainty over the coming months and years, however we want to reassure you that as a company which does business throughout the world, we remain committed to all of our customers whether they are in the UK, the EU, or elsewhere, and will continue to provide our services across the globe, regardless of national borders.

Frequently Asked Questions

There are of course many unknowns about the process of leaving the EU and what impact it will have on UK businesses, but we want to address some of the more obvious questions now to help put your minds at ease.

Is there any immediate impact on Freethought?
None at all, business is continuing very much as usual here at Freethought!

Can I still buy services from you if I'm not in the UK?
Absolutely! The UK has not yet left the EU and that process will take many years yet. Even once the UK has left the EU, we remain committed to international trade and will assess any impact on our international customers when the specific details of those changes become apparent.

Am I still allowed to store data about EU citizens on your servers?
The UK is still a member of the EU and will remain so for some time. Until the exit is complete the Data Protection Act (1998) meets the requirements of the relevant EU directives. There are new EU data protection directives coming into force in 2018, the impact of those directives and the UK's exit from the EU remains unclear, we will assess and update as this becomes more clear.

What happens to my .eu domain?
One of the requirements to hold an .eu domain is that the registrant is an EU citizen or a business with an office within the EU. The registry for .eu domains has indicated that no immediate action will be taken, however it is entirely possible that registrants of .eu domains who are only present in the UK will no longer have the right to hold that domain once the UK eventually leaves the EU. That said, there is no way for us to be certain of any changes at this point as this is completely uncharted territory with no precedents. Rest assured that any steps to revoke domains would have plenty of warning (most likely several years), so for the time being we would urge you to continue as normal and await any update from us on your .eu domain name.

Will your prices change?
We pay a significant amount of our suppliers in US dollars, such as those providing domain names, SSL certificates, and software licenses. On top of that, much of the hardware that we use to power our services is ultimately priced in US dollars; as such any fluctuations in the exchange rate does impact the costs associated with providing services.

In the wake of the vote to leave the EU the pound (GBP) has dropped significantly in value which has made our costs higher. However, we allow for variation in the exchange rate when we price our services, so whilst we are currently making slightly less money, we have no immediate plans to increase pricing and will absorb those variations if possible. We are however monitoring the situation, currency exchange rates are extremely volatile at the moment, if the value of the pound continues to drop we may have to review pricing to ensure we aren't operating at a loss. We will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible for any changes which we are forced to introduce.

Will you let customers know if anything changes?
Of course, the UK remains a full member of the EU at the moment and will remain so for quite some time, however should anything change or more information becomes available which is relevant to our customers then we will of course ensure you are made aware.

Concerned? Get in touch!

If you have any questions or concerns not covered in this post about the implications of the UK’s exit from the EU in relation to your services then give us a call on 03300 882130 or drop an email to support@freethought.uk and we'll do our best to reassure you.