R4L/Services/Registration/Whois-Privacy
Whois Privacy
When you register a domain name with any domain registrar, you will submit contact information for the following positions:
- Registrant Contact (the owner)
- Administrative Contact (approves critical changes via email)
- Billing Contact (will receive renewal notices & receipts)
- Technical Contact (usually the domain's host or registrar)
ICANN, the body that oversees domain registration and registrars for gTLDs, requires all domains to have complete and accurate contact information. Domains that are not confirmed are now subject to suspension under ICANN's new rules. Each contact position will contain information for:
- Individual's first and last name
- Company name if applicable
- Email address
- Postal address
- Telephone and optional fax number
With Whois privacy enabled, we maintain your contact information in our local databases. In the public Whois record, however, contact information shown is that for the Whois privacy service and not yours. If someone wants to contact a registrant through the information in the Whois record, they are directed to a web page and asked to fill out a contact form online. That contact information is then emailed to you without a need to expose your email address or other contact information publicly.
Fees?
Many domain registrars, including GoDaddy, Tucows, Network Solution and others, charge up to $12/year extra to register a domain name with Whois privacy. If you transfer a domain to one of these registrars that has for example two years of time left on the domain, they will charge you for 3 years of privacy service! In the case where the charge $12/year, $36 would be added to the registration fee for the transfer!
Register4Less introduced our Whois privacy service back in 2001. We introduced this as a free service then, and still provide privacy services for our customers at no extra charge.
How Whois Privacy Works
Accredited registrars are also required to maintain registrant's information in escrow for safe keeping. In the event a registrar loses accreditation, this information is available to the registrar to which the domains would be moved.
