The Whois Directory And Your Privacy
Having WHOIS information available to the public is a good thing. Its one element of keeping domain owners accountable. If someone is using a domain for nefarious reasons, for example, there is an easily accessible record of whos responsible for it. It can also serve as a way for customers to get the contact information of a websites owner. And hey, lets not forget the bragging rights!
However, as you can imagine, there are other, less pleasant reasons why someone would want a domain owners contact information. Unscrupulous types like spammers and identity thieves can gain access to your contact details just by looking up your domain name on any WHOIS look-up website. There are even services out there that watch for and list new domain registrations, which makes it that much easier for such people to find potential targets.
Whois Examples To Find Domain Name Owner
For our example let us use the TechWelkin.com domain name. To search for the domain owner we will use services from ICANN WHOIS, WHOIS.NET and DomainTools and compare the results of each.
All the three results will provide the basic information that resides in the WHOIS database like the details of the registrant, registrar, administrative and technical contacts, the nameservers, and the dates of creation and the expiry for the domain. In the subsequent sections we will discuss the reason for performing a lookup using services from three different sites.
Why Search For A Domain Owner
The most obvious reason to locate a domain owner is to try to purchase the domain, but that isnt the only one. If a site claims to be a legitimate one owned by a major corporation but appears suspicious, checking its ownership is a way to verify its authenticity. Likewise, if a website has no contact information on its homepage or a contact page, a visitor could track down its owners in order to contact them with questions about the sites products or servicesor to report a technical problem.
Another reason to check domain ownership information is to safeguard the security of your own site against incorrect or incomplete contact information. Looking up the domain ownership records on an existing site allows owners to ensure that their information is correct and that nothing has been changed without permission. Searches for domain ownership can be accomplished through public WHOIS databases, website searches, and even email, depending on the reasons for conducting the search.
Also Check: How Much Is Domain Name Registration
Information Appearing In The Whois Service
Whois shows the public information of a domain name or an IP address holder, such as the name of the holder if the holder is a company and the registration date of the domain name. The results of a whois query also show the status of the domain name .
A whois query on a domain name searches a public whois database and returns the public information of the domain name. The administrators of each top-level domain have their own whois database.
Some More Registrant Information Domain Server Information Domain Name Record Information
WHOIS performs the required task efficiently, however, at the same time it should be noted that the information available may be exploited or utilized for spam and other purposes. You may end up receiving emails and unnecessary information from different resources and start filling up your inbox. To get rid of this problem, there are certain tools to help protect your privacy.
As in the case of www.DomainSherpa.com, we are able to see only limited information about the actual owner as the information is camouflaged through a privacy protection service called domain name privacy. Many domain name registrars offer domain privacy to mask the actual information of the domain owner. The privacy feature helps display third party information to safeguard your personal information from publically available information. Personal information is collected by the registrar and is accessible only on request by following certain privacy rules and regulations.
You May Like: How To Make A Domain
Whys It Necessary To Have A Whois Database
The ability to find domain info quickly and accurately is important for a couple main reasons: 1. A WHOIS check is essential for people in the business of buying and selling domains. These individuals need a method of communication for their transactions. A WHOIS search will provide one or more methods for reaching the current owner of a web address. 2. The WHOIS database is a way to maintain accountability for people who operate online. For example, if you felt someone was using your trademarks on their website, the WHOIS database provides a number of ways to resolve that dispute.
How Is Domain Owner History Useful
When youre running any OSINT research, one of the top most important things to investigate will be the domain names and IPs associated with the organization or individual youre targeting.
And there are a couple of scenarios in which youll find the domain owner history is quite useful, such as:
-
Cyber crime investigation: With the rise of fake propaganda, scams, phishing, viruses and malware campaigns all over the Internet, having a way to check out the real owner of a domain name is advantageous, as is analyzing how the administrative and technical information of the domain name has changed over time.Cybercrime investigators can easily detect changes in names, telephones, addresses, cities, countries, associated emails and assigned name servers then compare this data with critical variables from the digital crimes theyre investigating.
-
Trademark and service mark monitoring: If youre running a trademark protection service that includes monitoring, dealing with this specific type of cyber crime will be much easier. Detecting issues in one of your protected brands and having the ability to investigate the involved domains gives you total freedom to stop any kind of abuseincluding cybersquatting.
Also Check: How Do I Forward A Domain To Another Website
How Can You Protect Your Information
To combat the negative things that can happen when your private information is published, registrars usually offer an optional WHOIS privacy service. Such services allow the registrar to act as a proxy of the registrant. They publish the proxy contact information on the WHOIS directory, and keep the registrants information private.
Ideally, you should purchase this kind of service when you register your domain. This prevents the information from getting indexed or cached by WHOIS look-up websites and search engines. However, it can be purchased any time after the domain is registered. The service GoDaddy offers is called Private Registration.
Its also important to note that not every type of domain is eligible for this privacy service. Some domain extensions dont allow registrants to use a proxy. Others provide their own privacy service. A good rule of thumb is if privacy isnt offered when you purchase the domain, it will either not allow a proxy or will have an alternative service.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to our amazing help and customer support team. Were here to help!
How To Find The Owner Of A Website
If you want to know how to find the owner of a domain, start with the website. The website itself can be a useful source of information.
If the domain has been registered, but the website is not live yet, skip to step two and look at the domain registration history.
However, if there is a website, here are some places to look to find a website owner:
- Contact us page
- Website footer
- Privacy policy
Depending on the website owner, they may make their contact information accessible. Professional resume websites often have contact information, and so do sales websites.
However, if the owner of the website doesnt list any contact information on the contact us or about page, there are a couple of other places you can look.
First, scroll down to the website footer. This is where you can find out who owns the copyright, and sometimes you can find out which agency created the website. Either of these can point you in the direction of the website owner.
Finally, you can check the privacy policy page. If a website collects any user information, its legally required to have a privacy policy.
How does the privacy policy page help you?
The privacy policy needs to include contact information for privacy issues. It often includes the email address or physical address of the individual who owns the websites data.
|
Also Check: How Do You Transfer A Domain
Three: Contact The Domain Registrar
Many domain registrars now offer domain name privacy, which keeps the owners personal information from being listed in the WHOIS directory. Between that and GDPR legislation, the WHOIS directory is no longer a reliable way to find a domain owners personal contact information.
That means in many cases, you wont be able to learn directly who the owner is via the directory. But you will be able to find out who they registered the domain with.
This still isnt a dead end. Go to the website of the domain registrar , and look for their contact information. Give them a call or write them an email letting them know what domain youre interested in buying, and ask them to pass along your information to the owner. The registrar will have the owners contact details on file, and will be able to share your interest with them without violating any privacy concerns.
How To Check Domain Name Ownership History
If that particular domain name has been registered earlier, It will have a history record. In this article, Ill show you how to check the history of a domain name via the best available tools in the market.
First, you will need to choose a domain name for your business. Once done, It will be a perfect time to see whether this domain name was owned earlier or not.
Luckily the internet users leave footprints behind them on the internet. And accordingly, you can easily find any domain footprint with a click of your mouse.
Don’t Miss: How To Find Domain Name Provider
What Is The Process To Lookup Domain Name Details
The domain name registration process has been engineered in a very transparent way. Everybody has an open access to obtain information about domain name registrant and the ownership of a domain by just clicking on certain informative links. It also helps in keeping a track of domain name expiry dates and the start date of registration.
Who Legally Owns A Domain
Searching for a domains owner can turn up multiple names provided as contacts for functions such as technical support, administration, and billing. But, the legal owner of a website is the registrantthe person or entity in whose name the domain has been registered with a dedicated domain registrar or hosting provider. As long as registration fees are kept up to date, that owner retains full rights to the domain and has sole control over selling it at any time, whether or not the domain is nearing expiration.
Also Check: How To Get Free Tk Domain
What Is Domain Owner Or Website Owner
Domain owner means the legal owner of a domain name. It can belong to the person or organization listed as the domains registrar as the owner of the particular domain name. Domains typically have four contacts: registrant/owner, admin, technical, and billing.
There are few types of domain names, for normal TLD domain name, you can check the contacts listed using a WHOIS Lookup, if the WHOIS Lookup does not display the owner information, and it wont be displayed due to the persons/owner added with Domain Privacy Protection.
How Is The Gdpr Applicable To Webnamesca
Under Recital 23 of the GDPR, Webnames.ca claims no nexus with the EU, EEA nor the citizens of either, and therefore claims non-applicability of the GDPR to any and all aspects of its business.
Despite this, many of the domain Registries that Webnames is partnered with to provide domain extensions must comply fully with the GDPR. The changes to policies and procedures required of these partners will affect what information is collected, shared and displayed, and may result in changes to agreements and terms.
Notwithstanding, many domain Registries with whom Webnames.ca contracts must fully comply with the GDPR, and therefore these Registries may implement policies or procedures relating to WHOIS data which result in changes. These changes may include, but are not limited to,?variations in what WHOIS data is included and how it is displayed via the Webnames’s WHOIS lookup page.
Therefore, in regards to WHOIS output:
Where the domain Registry is the sole source of Registrant WHOIS data for the queried domain, the WHOIS data will be displayed by Webnames in whatever form it is received from the Registry, without alteration of any kind. This may result in some fields, particularly those containing Personally Identifiable Information being absent, blank or redacted.
Recommended Reading: How To Buy A Dot Com Domain Name
Why You Might Want To Find The Owner Of A Website
Wanting to purchase a domain is the most common reason for learning how to find the owner of a website. Lets say youre starting your own website, and you do a URL availability search or a Bluehost domain search only to find that the domain you want is taken.
You can find the owner of the domain or website and contact that person to see if theyre willing to sell you the domain.
There are a few other reasons you might want to find the owner of a domain or website. Perhaps you wish to contact the website owner for another reason, such as having a question about their content or design.
And finally, you might want to find the owner of a website if you believe that the content or the business is questionable.
Whatever reason you choose, there are several strategies you can use to look up a websites owner or domain registration history.
How Can I Protect My Privacy Online
If youve registered a domain and dont want your personal contact information listed publicly, why not consider domain privacy protection?
Then, when someone searches for your web address on the Whois database, alternative contact information will be displayed instead of your personal information.
Here at Namecheap, we offer free Domain Privacy with every new registration and transfer.
Our domain privacy service provider does not require your personal information at any stage and any details you share with Namecheap will stay with us.
Plus, if you have privacy protection in place, it also limits the chance of marketing firms and online fraudsters from handling your contact information.
Read Also: How To Add Email To Godaddy Domain