Domain Privacy and WHOIS: Protect Your Personal Information

Every domain registration requires contact information that becomes part of the public WHOIS database. Without privacy protection, your name, address, email, and phone number are visible to anyone who looks up your domain. Here's how to protect yourself.

What Is WHOIS?

WHOIS is a public database containing the registration details of every domain name. When you register a domain, ICANN requires you to provide:

• Registrant name
• Organization (if applicable)
• Street address
• City, state, country, postal code
• Email address
• Phone number

This information is publicly queryable through WHOIS lookup tools.

Why WHOIS Privacy Matters

Spam Prevention

Without privacy, your email and phone are harvested by spammers within hours of registration. Expect a flood of unwanted solicitations.

Identity Protection

Your home address being publicly linked to your domain creates personal safety concerns, especially for solo entrepreneurs working from home.

Domain Theft Prevention

Exposed WHOIS data makes social engineering attacks easier. Attackers use your personal details to impersonate you with registrars.

Competitive Intelligence

Competitors can use WHOIS data to track your domain purchases, revealing business strategies and upcoming projects.

Harassment Prevention

Public figures, controversial brands, and anyone who might attract negative attention needs WHOIS privacy as a basic safety measure.

How Domain Privacy Works

Domain privacy (also called WHOIS privacy or ID protection) replaces your personal information in the WHOIS database with the privacy service's information:

• Your name → Privacy service name
• Your address → Privacy service address
• Your email → Proxy email that forwards to you
• Your phone → Privacy service phone number

You still own the domain and receive all communications — they're just forwarded through the privacy service.

Getting WHOIS Privacy

Free Privacy

Many registrars now include WHOIS privacy for free:

• Cloudflare — Free with all domains
• Namecheap — Free WhoisGuard
• Google Domains — Free privacy included
• Porkbun — Free with registration

Paid Privacy

Some registrars charge $2-15/year for privacy protection. GoDaddy, for example, charges extra for most plans.

GDPR Impact

For EU-based registrants, GDPR regulations have effectively hidden personal WHOIS data for European domains by default. However, this doesn't apply globally.

Setting Up WHOIS Privacy

1. During registration: Most registrars offer privacy as a checkbox during the registration process. Always enable it.
2. After registration: Log into your registrar dashboard, find domain settings, and enable privacy protection.
3. Verify: Use a WHOIS lookup tool (whois.domaintools.com) to confirm your personal information is hidden.

When NOT to Use Privacy

There are rare cases where visible WHOIS is preferred:

• Building trust for enterprise sales — Some B2B buyers check WHOIS for legitimacy
• Trademark enforcement — Visible ownership can deter infringers
• Government or institutional domains — Transparency may be required

Even in these cases, consider using your business address rather than your personal home address.

RDAP: The Modern WHOIS

RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is replacing WHOIS as the standard domain lookup protocol. RDAP provides:

• Structured data format (JSON instead of plain text)
• Better internationalization support
• Built-in access controls for privacy
• More reliable and consistent data

Most users won't notice the difference — the key privacy considerations remain the same.

Protect Your Brand From the Start

Domain privacy is one piece of protecting your brand's digital presence. Start by securing your name across all channels.

Use BrandScout to check your brand name across domains and social platforms. Then register with privacy enabled to protect both your brand and your personal information.