WhoIs privacy

~J~ · 3 Jul 2007 at 14:28

Registered a domain a few days ago for a small business venture. Just checked on the WhoIs database and they've got my personal details on there which I don't want (despite telling the people that I bought the domain name from that I didn't want them included!)

Anyone know if WhoIs will remove those details, or is it now too late?

Longbow · 3 Jul 2007 at 14:37

You can change the whois details via a control panel from whoever you bought the domain from.

Otherwise those details will stay there for as long as you have the domain.

psyr33n · 3 Jul 2007 at 17:25

Bear in mind most whois protection requires a fee. Nothing major, but a fee nonetheless.

stoofa · 3 Jul 2007 at 17:37

Also it is worth mentioning that "WHOIS Protection" is not an official product and actually goes against the terms & conditions of your domain name purchase.
If you do not display correct WHOIS information ICAAN have, can and I'm sure will again take domain names and delete them.
Part of the T&C's you agree to do state that all information available in WHOIS will be legitimate.

Also by allowing another company to place their information in the WHOIS database they could simply walk off with your domain and there would be nothing you can do about it.

Nominet allow UK individuals to opt-out of WHOIS for all .uk domains.
However business and sole traders cannot.

chris74 · 3 Jul 2007 at 18:33

I personally use dynadot for my domain registrations and domain privacy for my online business.

It is an American company and they offer .co.uk aswell and because of the exchange rate they work out really cheap.

For the equivalent of £2.02 i purchased domain privacy which does include my name but with regards address and such it it shows dynadots address and no email address for spammers to get hold of.

With regards stoofas comment you do have to indeed provide accurate information of course, but the point of domain privacy is to protect your identity from would be spammers. Your correct details are listed correctly with the right authorities, they are just masked from nosey individuals.

Chris

~J~ · 3 Jul 2007 at 18:36

Cheers folks. Unfortunately the people I bought the domain from don't have a control panel to change the WhoIs information.

I'm moving the domain details to a better host so I'm going to see if they'll be able to change the details as a package, or in the least, do it for me with some small fee.

Thanks for the replies though, appreciate it.

chris74 · 3 Jul 2007 at 18:54

They don't offer domain privacy?
Email them and ask.

If not then you can choose somewhere else and transfer it to your new registar for a fee.

blade007 · 3 Jul 2007 at 18:56

just make double sure that you do own that domain, and not your registrar.

stoofa · 4 Jul 2007 at 03:26

chris74 said:
With regards stoofas comment you do have to indeed provide accurate information of course, but the point of domain privacy is to protect your identity from would be spammers. Your correct details are listed correctly with the right authorities, they are just masked from nosey individuals.

Chris

Your details are not registered with the right people if you use "Domain Privacy".
You are quoting what your registra have told you and at the moment this is incorrect.
ICANN have stated that the public WHOIS must contain the correct contact information for any domain owner.
This is so that any domain owner can easily be traced if the needs be.
By using "Domain Privacy" you are immediately going against the ICANN terms & conditions which do superceed anything your registra is offering.
Remember that each registra is simply reselling ultimately on behalf of the ICANN and cannot simply decide which T&C to accept and which not to.

The theory is sound for WHOIS privacy - You allow the registra to place their information in the Admin, Technical and Billing sections of WHOIS.
However as far as ICANN are concerned they are the registered owner of the domain name - not you.
Should your registra "do a runner" or you run into dispute over the domain name, billing etc you cannot complain to ICANN or anybody "Upstream" because of the name that appears in the WHOIS database.

By using WHOIS privacy you are putting 100% faith in your registra and when you read some of the horror stories of them vanishing or refusing to transfer domains etc you have to ask if it's worth the risk.
At the end of the day if you've got a catchall on your domain you're still going to attract Spam - so to what end are you after WHOIS privacy?

If the domain is a .uk then it falls under Nominet's control.
They to state that correct WHOIS information has to be used.
If however you are a UK individual then you may opt-out and then all but your name will be removed from the ublic WHOIS on the domain.

I'm simply posting as a warning and making sure you know what you are getting into.
Both ICANN & Nominet have deleted domains in the past that don't have the correct WHOIS information available and I'm sure they will again.
They have dedicated e-mail addresses where people can report such domains - all it takes is for somebody to take a fancy to your domain name, to see the WHOIS information isn't correct and they can start a dispute - doesn't mean they will win, but they could.