Domain privacy explained: what WHOIS privacy hides
Every registered domain has a public record showing who registered it. Without privacy protection, that record can include your name, address, phone number and email address. Domain privacy hides those details. Here's how it works and when it matters.
What the public record shows
When you look up a domain using a WHOIS or RDAP lookup, you typically see:
- the registrar,
- the registration and expiry dates,
- the domain's status, and
- the nameservers.
Historically, the registrant's personal contact details were shown too, so anyone could see who owned a domain and how to contact them. That led to spam, scam calls and privacy concerns.
What's changed
In recent years, privacy laws in many parts of the world have led registrars and registries to hide much of this personal information by default, especially for individuals. Many public records now show "redacted for privacy" instead of a name and address.
But it isn't universal. What's shown depends on the extension, the registrar, the country and whether the registrant is a person or an organisation.
What privacy protection does
Privacy protection, also called WHOIS privacy or privacy proxy, replaces your contact details in the public record with those of a privacy service. Typically:
- your name, address and phone number are replaced with the service's details,
- your email is replaced with a forwarding address or a contact form, so people can still reach you without seeing your real address, and
- you still own the domain and have full control of it.
Many registrars now include privacy protection free of charge.
What it doesn't do
Privacy protection hides your details from the public record, but:
- It doesn't hide you from authorities. Registrars can disclose details in response to valid legal requests.
- It doesn't make you anonymous to your registrar. They still hold your real information, and you must keep it accurate.
- It doesn't hide your website's content. If your website lists your address, privacy protection doesn't change that.
- It isn't available for every extension. Some extensions restrict privacy services. For example, .us doesn't allow privacy services for registrations. Check your extension's rules.
When privacy matters most
Privacy protection is especially worth having if:
- you're an individual registering a domain at your home address,
- you want to avoid spam and unsolicited sales calls, or
- you'd rather not have your name publicly linked to a domain.
For a registered business, publishing a business address may be less of a concern, though many businesses still prefer privacy to reduce spam.
Keep your real details accurate
With or without privacy, keep your actual contact details accurate at your registrar. The registrar uses them for renewal notices, transfer approvals and verification. If the email is out of date, you might miss the warning that your domain is about to expire, or be unable to approve a transfer when you sell it.
Privacy and buying or selling domains
Privacy makes it harder to contact a domain's owner directly, which is one reason marketplaces and for-sale pages are useful. They give buyers a safe way to reach sellers without anyone exposing personal details.
When you sell a domain, some registrars ask you to turn off privacy during the transfer. When you buy one, turn privacy on in your own account once the transfer completes, if it isn't automatic.
On our marketplace, buyers and sellers deal through listings, offers and orders, so neither side needs to share their personal contact details to complete a sale. If you have a domain to sell, you can list it for free.