Is Domain Privacy Worth It

How To Find Out Who Owns A Private Domain

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If you want to find out who owns a private domain, there are a couple of methods you can try.

Head over to the WHOIS database and find the specified email. This is that email address we talked about that belongs to the privacy provider. If they find your email relevant, they may resend it to the domain owner, in which case you may be able to figure out who the owner is. Some privacy providers may require to fill out a form on their website instead of sending an email. Make sure you specify why you need to get in touch with the owner in your email , to increase your chances of getting through to them.

If you have legal concerns about a certain domain, you can always contact the authorities. If they find probable cause, they can legally demand the registrar to provide the domain owners information.

Try using the WHOIS History Checker to find out who owned the domain in the past. They may still own it today.

If you can find the IP addresses that are associated with the domain name, use a reverse IP service to find out if other domains are associated with the same IP address. Then, look up those other domains in WHOIS. Maybe one of them still contains the owners private information.

Domain Privacy And General Data Protection Regulation

You may already know about GDPR regarding its impact on your and your users web privacy within the European Union . Theres a little more to understand about how this ties into domain privacy and the WHOIS database in general.

Of course, the GDPR keeps your data safe and protected. So does domain privacy, although theres one key distinction. With domain privacy, you have a forwarding address. That means if theres a need to contact you, someone can legitimately use the WHOIS database to reach you while still enabling you to keep your information private:

In contrast, while the GDPR also ensures that your details dont display within the WHOIS database, theres no forwarding email address. Thus, nobody will be able to contact you for legitimate reasons. While this isnt a huge concern given what we said earlier, its still something to note.

Our advice is always to take the option of domain privacy if possible. At this point, its worth noting that some top-level domain extensions dont get the opportunity to have private WHOIS entries. This is often related to country-specific TLDs, such as .us, .uk, and .it, and many second-level domains such as .us.com, and .net.in.

Still, youll have the ability to hide your personal data under GDPR, but without the benefits of domain privacy implementation.

Reasons To Sign Up For Domain Privacy Protection

To protect you and your company from having your personal information fall into the wrong hands, most domain registrars offer domain privacy protection. You should take advantage of this important service for the following reasons:

Personal information protection.

Domain privacy protection helps to ensure that your company address, phone numbers, email addresses and other data are not available through the Whois system. This will make it harder for hackers to gather this information and use it in illegal ways

Scam and spam calls and emails.

Selling of personal information.

Without domain privacy protection, you are in danger of having someone gather all of your companys private information and sell it to a third party vendor. These vendors provide your information to marketers and organizations that will send you a steady stream of unwanted emails and phone calls.

Potential for competitive insights.

Your domain name registration can be used by your competitors to help them gain insight into your business and the way you operate. Your personal information can be used against you by brands looking to counter your unique advantages and capture your market share.

Unwanted internet traffic.

While some companies like any type of website visitors, letting others gain access to your companys private data can attract stalkers and hackers. These individuals have no business on your website and are only there for malicious purposes.

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A Couple Of Reasons Why You May Not Choose To Protect Your Domain Name

At this point, domain privacy protection probably seems like a no-brainer, so why is it that so many domain owners do not automatically turn it on? Well aside from the lack of education or potential costs associated depending on your registrar, protecting your domain also means less transparency. Which also means that your potential customers, business partners or people who wish to buy your domain name will have a harder time getting in contact with you.

Having your information out there shows your customers or potential business partners your contact info, in case they decide to dig deeper and head over to WHOIS to find it. A good workaround here is to ensure that your contact information is always displayed on your website , including at the footer of your pages and in a Contact Us page. Alternatively, if you have your domain name registered at NameSilo, you can control whether you want emails sent to the anonymized address forwarded to you.

Of course, in most cases, the benefits of domain name privacy will outweigh the transparency issue. But if youre trying to decide whether protecting your domain is worth it, then you should definitely take both arguments into consideration and solve for the potential limitations as much as possible.

What Is The Next Step

Is Domain Name Privacy Worth it (+Get It For Free)?

So again when it comes to buying domains, I definitely recommend that you get domain privacy protection to save you time and frustration.

Make sure that the web hosting provider is reliable and also offers this feature on domains. You will thank me later!

Versus using Goddady, you can 1) purchase a Namecheap domain and use their web hosting with this special 50% OFF link here!

or 2) Get a FREEdomain and domain privacy with Bluehost Plus hosting right now to create your website online today here at www.bluehost.com.

If you are looking for some great suggestions in addition to Namecheap and Bluehost, there are 4 more great WordPress hosting services that you can use to create your website also.

If you need help and dont know how to point nameservers to Namecheap, contact meFIRST before signing up! This way I can help you step by step through the process of getting your website online the right way!

But again, if you just want to keep things simple, then I highly recommend just getting domain privacy from Namecheap and also buying your web hosting there. This way, once you get started with this special Namecheap link here, you will be all set and ready to start building your website right out the gate!

There shared web hosting is really cheap and starts at only $2.88/month and it will allow you to create up to 3 websites. This is way cheaper than Godaddy web hosting and a great way to save money.

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Where Can I Get Domain Privacy Protection For Free

Now that you know the importance to have Domain Privacy Protection, you might be thinking should I buy WHOIS Privacy Protection or get it for free? You can get the domain privacy protection for free thanks to several premier domain registrars that provide the service as a free add-on.

Bluehost is a top web hosting company that you can consider for a free Domain Privacy Protection service. When you sign up with Bluehosts Basic web hosting plan, you get a free domain. However, you still have to pay an additional fee to get the domain privacy add-on. Interestingly, when you upgrade to their premium plans such as Choice Plus and Pro, you get domain privacy for free with their shared hosting plans.

And if you want free domain privacy protection for a lifetime, then you have two great options Namecheap and NameSilo. They provide high levels of domain privacy as an add-on when you register for a domain name with them. There is no need to pay any additional fee for the service.

Because Its Quick And Easy To Add It

The option to add domain privacy protection is generally made available to you during the process of registering a new domain name. But if you had decided not to enable it at the start, you can still change your mind to add domain privacy to an existing domain name. Simply contact your domain registrar or hosting provider to purchase the add-on.

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Its A Digital Jungle Out There Keep Your Information Secure

As the Internet continues to grow and more people access websites, the risks to personal information continue to grow. Although you may believe your site is too small to get any real attention, it may be only a matter of time before your inbox becomes flooded with unsolicited messages and threats.

Never assume that your site is too insignificant to be noticed, even if you just purchased the domain yesterday. Bots which scour the Internet for personal information dont care how much traffic you get.

Domain Privacy Protection Conclusion

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So is domain privacy protection worth it? I think you know the answer to this question by now and see the reason that you shouldnt checkout without having this feature added. If you really care about web security and protecting your business website and good name online, then this is an easy answer.

To date, I have purchased over 30 domains online so I know what works and what doesnt. I also know where to find great online deals and discounts on web hosting, domains and tools that you will need to save money for your business and excel online. If you want to know more, feel free to drop your comments below and I will be happy to provide additional in on tools. In the interim, you can checkout the resources page.

Now lets turn over to you. What type of website are you creating online? Will you buy domain privacy today to protect your website data online? You better get it!

Now that you understand what is domain privacy protection, I hope that you enjoyed this review today. If you have any questions about this post or creating websites and blogs online, feel free to drop a comment below..

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Do I Need Domain Privacy Protection

When you register a new domain name, with most providers, one of the first options youll see during the checkout process is whether or not to select domain privacy protection as an add-on.

Youre already spending money on your domain and web hosting, so naturally before you agree to one more expense, you want to know for sure: is domain privacy worth it?

While the cost for domain privacy protection is fairly low , money is money and you dont want to pay for anything you dont need. When trying to decide if domain name privacy is necessary for you, heres a rundown of everything you need to know.

What If You Checkout But Want To Add Godaddy Full Domain Privacy Protection Later

No problem. If you already purchased the domain, you can simply go login and click on the my domains tab and then click add privacy next to your desired domain. I have done this for many of the domains that I own.

Some may decide not to add it at. For example, some people buy and sell domains for profit online. This practice is called domain flipping. There are many helpful domain flipping guides online that show beginners how to make money with it.

If your idea is to buy domains on Godaddy and flip them quickly on Godaddy auctions, Flippa.com, Sedo, etc, then you might bypass Domain Privacy. However, if you are buying a domain on which you plan to build a website on for the long haul, then getting Godaddy Domain Privacy Protection is definitely worth adding it if you already purchased it.

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Domain Privacy + Protection Protects You From:

Spam and other unsolicited emails

Unwanted phone calls and postal mail

Competitors being able to look up which domains you own

Harm to your domains reputation by scanning Malware and monitoring SEO blacklists.

As an added benefit, Domain Privacy + Protection allows you to receive a text message anytime someone tries to make changes to your domain.

Add To An Existing Domain

If you remove privacy protection when you register a domain, dont worry, you can always change your mind and add it at a later date. However, if you have the option to apply privacy from the get-go, do so. If you dont apply privacy upfront, your information will be available to the public. There are tools available that allow people to find previously listed domain ownership data, transfer history, and historical sales records of a domain.

If you remove the protection that Namecheap offers, and your current domain is getting spammed, you should get domain privacy. Email and phone spam will be greatly reduced if you have privacy protection in place.

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How Do I Enable Domain Privacy

Image credit: zendesk

Domain privacy is a service that helps protect your personal information from being published online. When you register a domain, your personal information is typically available to anyone who does a simple WHOIS search. Domain privacy replaces your personal information with the contact information for the privacy service, so your information is protected.

Domain Privacy Protection Means Less Spam

How many times a day do you get phone calls from unidentified numbers? How about emails selling products youd never dream of buying at allmuch less from a cold email? Spam is an unfortunate part of life.

Its bad enough without putting your email address and phone number out there where anyone can find it. Listing your contact information in the WHOIS database basically guarantees that youll see an uptick in spam calls and emails. It makes you an easy target.

And while there are certainly worse things in the world than spam, who wants to spend their time deleting spam emails or fielding robo-calls? Domain privacy protection may not keep you from dealing with any spam, but it means getting a lot less of it.

You Dont Want Strangers To Know Your Physical Address

Strangers on the internet arent always harmless. Usually trolls like to stay hidden behind a screen, but they dont always stay there. If your physical address is published publicly on the web, anyone who finds your website can find you in person.

This benefit is especially important for website owners that dont have a business location. If youre using your home address, do you really want to make it easy for strangers to be able to track you down online? Even if your website is on a topic thats mild , thats a real risk.

For businesses that can use a company headquarters as their listed location, the risk is smaller, especially if your address will be listed elsewhere around the web. In those cases, this particular benefit may not be worth much, but the others may still be.

Enjoy Complete Domain Privacy Protection With Network Solutions

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With a long history of safely registering business domain names, Network Solutions offers privacy domain registration to safeguard your personal information from spammers, telemarketers and bots.You can also benefit from our easy to use DIY web builders and trusted web hosting services.

Keep your data safe and secure with our complete selection of website and online services. Were always here to make your job easier.

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Hides Your Contact Details

Webmasters and investors who have been in the website game for a while remember when no registrars gave free privacy. If you didnt pay for it, the mass spam emails were sure to follow.

Hiding the contact details stops this, which also limits the phishing emails. This can be turned off for those selling domain names, but most other webmasters are better served by the privacy which also makes them harder to target.

Is Domain Privacy Protection Available For Every Domain

Not every domain can get privacy protection it depends on the top-level domain you use.

Domain name privacy is usually available for most common top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .org, .online, and .co. However, you might find that its not available for domain extensions such as .mobi, .asia, .istanbul, and .space.

This is because some registrars dont allow the service due to some of their rules and regulations.

For the complete list of TLDs that cant be protected, check our guide on how to enable WHOIS privacy protection.

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To Keep Your Personal Information Hidden From The Public

One of the main reasons to get domain privacy protection is to keep your personal information hidden from the public. By using a privacy service, your information will be shielded from prying eyes. Your information will be safe from identity theft, unwanted solicitations, and fraud. Many people use domain privacy protection to keep their information safe from identity theft. You can imagine how easy it would be for someone to steal your identity if your personal information was publicly available. This would be a nightmare!

Prevent Strangers From Accessing Your Personal Data

Hostgator Domain Privacy Protection Worth It

You can use domain privacy protection to decrease the risk of data breaches. It lets you avoid handing over your personal data to the entire internet.

The Identity Theft Resource Center shares that data breaches affected 189.5 million people in 2021, leading to phishing attacks, spam calls, and identity theft.

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