Do I Need Domain Name Privacy Protection? The Truth Revealed

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Among the first choices, you’ll see during the ordering process when registering a new domain name is whether or not to incorporate domain privacy protection as an add-on.

“Do I need domain name privacy protection?” you may be wondering at this stage.

This concern is frequently facilitated by the fact that you’ve already spent some money on your domain and web hosting, so you’ll want to truly know if domain privacy is worth the extra cost before committing to it.

Yes, the cost of domain name privacy security is low, however, cash is cash and you wouldn’t want to waste it on anything you don’t need that much.

When deciding whether or not domain name privacy is important for you, there are a few items to consider.

This article will answer the question “do I need domain name privacy protection?” as thoroughly as possible.

What is the meaning of domain name privacy? Domain name protection has both advantages and disadvantages, which will be treated in this post as well.

I believe that by the end of this post, any remaining questions about WHOIS privacy security will have been answered.

Let’s get started right away…

What is Domain Name Privacy Protection?

If you’ve identified the perfect domain name for you and confirmed that it’s available for use, you’ll notice that registering it necessitates giving your contact details to the company you purchase it from.

As a result, every time someone wants to register a domain name, the domain registrar you use is obliged to send information to The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) WHOIS directory about who the new website purchaser is.

This means that if a website breaks the law, the owner of the website can be tracked down.

This ensures that someone who owns a website runs the risk of revealing sensitive personal details including their physical location, phone number, and email address to the entire internet.

If you’re not happy with that, domain privacy security allows you to make your registrar add their contact details instead of yours.

This way, it keeps you in compliance with ICANN’s criteria without disclosing your personal details to the rest of the world.

In conclusion, domain name privacy security, also known as WHOIS protection, is an add-on feature that enables you to keep your name and contact information confidential while registering a domain name.

Do I Need Domain Name Privacy Protection?

Have you ever thought about how uninvited marketing firms obtain your email address, work phone number, or mailing address?  If your answer is yes, then Domain name Privacy Protection is what you need.

Although some domain owners may claim that you don’t really need website privacy protection, particularly if you’re just getting started, most people have discovered that once anything is out on the internet, it’s out forever.

As a website owner, you must include contact details such as your email address, phone number, and mailing address when registering a domain.

Such details aren’t private by nature, and it may lead to some bad consequences when dealing with shady internet individuals.

Anyone can obtain the WHOIS details of any domain that has already been made public by entering a registered domain name into any free-to-use WHOIS search tool.

They can extract your personal information if it is not secured. All your personal information is out in the open, ready for unsolicited ads and sales contacts, spam, and the possibility of having your domain hacked.

If you wouldn’t want any of these things to occur to you, then you need domain privacy protection.

This is because, as previously mentioned, domain name privacy security is a service that replaces your actual contact information with that of your domain registrar, with a randomly generated email address to render your contact details confidential.

Benefits of Domain Name Privacy Protection

You wouldn’t want the simple act of creating a website to mean that all of your personal contact details are out there for everyone to see as you go about life trying to be cautious of whom you give your personal details to.

Are you still debating whether or not registering a private domain is worthwhile? Let’s look at some of the reasons why you need it.

1. It cuts down on spam

If you want to secure your email and cut down on unsolicited messages from spammers, you’ll need to register for a domain name privately.

We are all bombarded with spam in several aspects of life, as you are well aware. Unknown senders send you emails promoting goods you’d never purchase. Calls from unknown phone numbers.

You’re going to get spam anyway, so putting your email address and phone number in a directory makes it much easier for scammers.

With domain privacy, what happens is that in the WHOIS registry the domain registrar can have an alias email in lieu of your own, reducing the risk of phishing emails.

If you are using domain privacy protection, phishing emails seeking to acquire your usernames, confidential details, passwords, and other personal information will not enter your true email.

2. Protect yourself from identity fraud

Anybody can access your personal information if it is included in the WHOIS public archive. This includes those you don’t want to be exposed to, such as envious friends, hackers, rivals, and anyone else with nefarious motives.

How at ease are you with unfamiliar people having your phone number and address?

This is a huge risk, particularly if you’re working on a new idea, creating a website for a venture you’d like to keep under wraps, or simply don’t want people to know who you are.

Your personal data will be compromised if you do not purchase privacy protection, and you may be vulnerable to identity theft.

Worse still, if your website is hacked, your customers’ data will also be stolen, and you risk destroying the confidence you’ve earned over time in a moment.

With high-profile companies increasingly appearing in the news for data breaches, there’s only so much you can do to completely protect yourself.

However, any little move you can undertake to create your personal information more difficult to locate reduces the risk.

An issue like that has the potential to completely wreck a small company.

Such information is hidden behind WHOIS security. Domain privacy is needed to keep your information out of the wrong hands.

3. Your confidential details can be marketed to third parties

What’s even riskier is that some businesses use a technique known as “data mining” to gather personal information from publicly accessible sources such as WHOIS in an attempt to market it to third parties.

The charges against Facebook for transmitting personal data to advertisers are indeed the most recent and important example.

Obviously, this is not a minor problem that can be ignored, and you should still keep your cyber protection in mind.

Through domain name privacy protection, however, you can simply escape any of these issues.

4. Keep scammers at bay

Scammers are the only thing devastating than hackers. Scams on the web and over the telephone are popular, and the more there are people who know about you, the more probable you are to be attacked.

Scammers will be more persuasive if they have more detail about you. If they notice that your domain registration is just about to end, they might impersonate your domain registration provider and attempt to get you to pay them instead of the legitimate company.

They might even consider domain theft by impersonating you and approaching your domain registration provider to get them to turn over the access to your domain to them.

While companies have placed procedures in place to make domain hijacking extremely difficult, getting access to your personal records as well as details about your domain registrations makes pulling off these types of internet gimmicks and scams much simpler.

As a website owner or anyone who runs an online company, you now have yet another justification to protect your WHOIS information.

5. Protect yourself from competitors by going into hibernation

Anyone who owns a company or is considering starting one would almost certainly conduct market research. Competitor analysis is a common aspect of this procedure. Competitors would have an easier time finding information about your business if you list your information in the WHOIS archive.

The WHOIS database is a convenient way for people to access your websites, particularly if you own many.

Domain privacy is worthwhile if you want to secure your brands apart in the eyes of rivals, or if you simply don’t want to make life simple for your competition to learn more about your business.

Furthermore, as a small business owner with minimal capital, any details you leak out to rivals can be extremely costly, particularly if you’re selling something new to the market.

So, take precautions, don’t reveal all of your cards, and use domain privacy protection to keep rivals at bay.

6. Loss of hegemony over your personal data

Even if you’re fine with giving out your email address to someone who asks, you wouldn’t want them to also have your private mobile number.

Although it’s simple to share any details you want on your blog’s contact page, you can’t prevent anyone from obtaining your personal details if it’s public on WHOIS.

However, if you enable domain privacy security, your private details will not be shared with someone else, keeping them safe and protected.

7. Avoid having your website hacked

It took a long time to build your website. It’s almost as if you’re constructing a home. And if it isn’t completely secured, there’s a risk it will be the victim of a phishing scam.

This implies that someone else may gain access to your domain control panel and switch your website to their username without your knowledge or permission.

By concealing sensitive confidential information, domain privacy security protects you from such threats. It’s the equivalent of leaving the door open for strangers to peek inside and see who’s inside.

If you do keep your house secured to safeguard you and your family, It’s rational thinking to defend your domain from strangers online, such as scammers and hackers.

Demerits of Investing in WHOIS Privacy Protection

You can’t be kidding me. Do you mean that with all the benefits that a domain name privacy offers, there are still some downsides to it?

The straight answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Even though the benefits of domain name privacy are convincing, it’s still a good idea to weigh all of the options.

There are a few disadvantages of using domain name protection, including the following:

1. Not necessary a full protection

Regrettably, not all domain registrars are trustworthy, and businesses have been accused of trading information that consumers paid them to keep secret.

It’s one thing to hide your details out of the WHOIS database, but if you’d like to keep your contact details secret, you’ll have to be mindful of who you purchase domain name privacy from.

Please ensure it’s a reputable business with a track record of excellent customer service.

2. It may often result in a lack of transparency

Imagine wanting to verify who you really are but finding no detail in the WHOIS directory.

As potential clients want to verify your company’s authenticity, being able to prove who you are and where you’re located assures them that you’re true.

Most consumers won’t go straight to the WHOIS database for that stuff, and you can actually prove your authority with good information on your website and in your marketing.

Letting the directory publish your details, on the other hand, is another way to show your customers that you are transparent.

3. It results in an additional expense

Payment of an extra fee on top of your domain name registration is usually the way to go if you intend to pick up domain name privacy.

And it isn’t something you purchase for once and forget about; you’ll have to renew it every year.

Given that you’d have already made a purchase for domain name registration and hosting, as well as the reality that they come with their own yearly renewal, the expense of domain name privacy might be a substantial enough deterrent for certain website owners.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a difference between WHOIS and domain name privacy protection?

No.

The terms WHOIS privacy protection and domain name privacy protection are synonymous.

The majority of webmasters and internet users, on the other hand, prefer to use it interchangeably.

2. Is it important to protect WHOIS information?

Yes.

This article has listed some of the advantages of WHOIS privacy protection. At WebHost Bros, we genuinely think it is an effective means to help minimize spam, scams, and unnecessary internet traffic.

Domain privacy protection adds an extra layer of security to the data and records of your company’s private website.

This will aid in the prevention of online threats, spam emails, and unwanted phone calls. Network Solutions provides domain privacy protection as a simple and easy way to secure your personal information.

In conclusion, while domain privacy isn’t necessarily needed, the small additional cost can save you time and hassle in the long run.

3. How do I do a WHOIS lookup for any domain?

To be able to do a WHOIS lookup for your domain or any in particular, just go to ICANN Lookup and put in the domain name you want to conduct a WHOIS lookup for in the search box and click on “Lookup

ICANN Lookup

A WHOIS lookup for this blog will reveal the details below…

WebHostBros ICANN Lookup

For the contact details section, this is what you’ll get…

WebHostBros ICANN Lookup Contact Infomation

The rest of the information for the WHOIS lookup are shown below:

WebHostBros ICANN Lookup Other Infomation

As you can see, at WebHost Bros, we have decided not to reveal our actual information. Rather those of our domain registrar and web host are displayed, indicating the presence of domain privacy protection.

4. What is the procedure for obtaining WHOIS privacy?

When you register a domain name with many of these domain name registrars, you’ll find that domain name privacy protection is available as an add-on during the purchase process.

You can simply press a button and have it included as part of your kit in this way.

5. Is it true that Google domains are private?

With many domain endings, Google Domains offers free privacy-protection options that enable you to keep some or all of your details private.

If your domain name applies, you should get privacy protection for it this way.

6. What is the cost of domain privacy?

Although most registrars charge for domain name privacy protection, Namesilo and Namecheap provide it for free and for the rest of your domain’s life.

This ensures that WHOIS privacy security is completely free as long as your domain is active with them.

Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility of a fee from certain registrars.

The price of adding domain name privacy to your contract varies depending on which provider you choose. In most cases, it is reasonably priced.

The cost of a private WHOIS registration is usually between $10 and $40 per year. Customers of HostGator will get it for $14.95 a year.

7. Is it possible to buy domain privacy at a later date?

Yes.

At any time after you register a domain, you can always add domain privacy to it.

If you have the option to add protection to your domain when registering it, please do so.

This is because your details would be made public if you don’t add protection right away.

8. What is the best way to get free domain privacy?

Yes.

Domain registrars such as Namecheap and Namesilo, as previously mentioned, provide free domain privacy.

In reality, they promote it as one of their incentives as what you can expect if you want to register a domain with them.

You cannot go wrong with either of the two registrars mentioned above.

9. What is the difference between a public and a private domain?

A private domain is one where the registrar does not make the registrant’s contact details available.

The registrant of such domains has already purchased or enabled WHOIS privacy protection.

Your domain registrar will take your contact information and replace it with theirs.

And if anyone wants to contact you, they must first submit a query to your domain registrar, who will then forward it to you.

Please keep in mind that private information like your domain name servers will be made public.

10. Should I register my domain name privately?

To respond, this is a very personal question.

It all relies on what you’re trying to secure and who you’re trying to shield it from.

As previously stated, WHOIS will prevent automated address harvesters from obtaining your information, but a determined hacker will seek out other means to determine who the true owner is.

Let’s take a step back and look at it from a wider viewpoint…

If you’re just a personal blogger or a hobbyist, you probably don’t want your personal information on the internet for anyone to see.

But if you’re a company, however, hiding your contact information is pointless because it will still be visible in the footer of your webpage.

In reality, as a company, potential clients may want to double-check such contact information with your website’s WHOIS details.

“A separate WHOIS information, what does it mean for your company’s image?” think about it.

Is this a legitimate business owner or a possible con artist?

As you can see above, domain name privacy is a very personal choice to make rather than a general one.

11. Who legally owns a domain name?

The registrant is the one who owns a domain.

A technical, registrant, administrative, and billing contact is listed for every domain name.

Since the registrant is the domain’s rightful owner, you’ll want to make sure you (or your company) are listed as the registrant.

12. Why personal details of the registrant are collected?

Domain registrars are required by legislation to obtain the registrant’s personal information at the time of registration.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers maintains a WHOIS directory that lists the details of any current domain name registrant.

13. What information is made available to ICANN?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) WHOIS directory contains the following key pieces of information about you:

  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Mailing address

14. Should I provide fake information instead?

This is one of the questions which some individuals may have if they don’t want to spend for domain name privacy protection.

Those who subscribe to this school of thought believe that since the aim of domain privacy security is to hide one’s identity online, why not just have a fake name and skip the whole process?

As a result, some people may be inclined to enter false details while registering a new domain in order to escape the traps without having to pay any additional fees.

However, keep in mind that the WHOIS details specify who owns the website lawfully and contractually.

If you’re ever confronted with legal or enforcement issues in the future, your bogus information could land you in hot waters.

15. Are all TLDs eligible for domain privacy?

Domain privacy is not available for all domain endings.

Although the WHOIS privacy feature is obtainable for almost all domains, due to registry limitations, some are not.

Presently, the following domains do not have domain privacy available: .cn, .ca, .com.au, .co.in, .co.uk, .com.es, .com.sg, .de, .gg, .es, .eu, .fr, .is, .ch, .id, .in, .org.es, .net.au, .law, .me.uk, .li, .nl, .nom.es, .nu, .org.au, .org.uk, .nyc, .to, .paris, .sg, .uk, .vote, .us, and .voto domains.

Certain TLDs may already have privacy protections in place, or limitations may apply to particular geographic areas.

Domains like .ca, .gr,.al, .uk, and .is, for example, are subject to varying degrees of limitations. For some, no details about the holder are revealed, and for others, the holder’s home address and not their full name can be concealed.

WHOIS privacy security is not allowed for domains such as .it, .us, and .in.

16. Is domain privacy protection worth it?

Even when you’re on a limited budget, you’re likely to be able to afford domain privacy protection. The expense is already justified by the time saved in dealing with spam calls and emails.

When you consider the threats it protects you from, the price of domain privacy becomes even more affordable.

17. So, what choices do you have left?

It’s worth contacting your domain registrar or hosting provider’s customer service to see if you already have domain privacy rights.

Many small businesses wouldn’t even realize if they have it because they hurried through the domain registration process.

The options that must be followed are mentioned below.

  1. When registering a new domain name, purchase domain privacy rights immediately. This is an excellent time to do it; this way, you will get started right away.
  2. Protect an existing domain name with domain privacy. You can indeed add it at any period if you just reviewed your domain privacy and noticed it isn’t covered. To buy it right now, contact your domain registrar or hosting company.

Conclusion

All in all, it is absolutely up whether or not you’d want your private details made public, but avoiding it is strongly advised, particularly if it is available for free.

Despite its importance, the WHOIS public database is often abused for scams and identity theft.

Thus, while you may be diligently protecting your personal information elsewhere, you may be jeopardizing your efforts by having your information exposed in the registry.

Domain name protection is a cost-effective way of protecting both you and your blog’s visitors.

You can be reassured that the only phone calls, emails, or mail you receive will be from prospective customers but not from fraudsters if you use Domain Privacy.

If you want your domain to be private, we suggest buying it from Namecheap or Namesilo. This is due to the fact that you will be given free domain name privacy protection for a lifetime.