Is Domain Privacy Worth It A Deeper Look Into Domain Privacy Protection
A website owner should constantly be on the lookout for hacking attempts and personal data breaches. Having data stolen from you can be alarming, especially if you manage a business website.
In 2020 alone, more than 1,000 cases of data breaches exposed the personal information of more than 155.8 million people in the United States. Furthermore, 86% of data violations were financially motivated.
One way to secure your website and personal data is by signing up for domain privacy protection. However, since its a premium service, is it worth the money?
In this article, well discuss what domain privacy protection is and the main reasons why you need it.
How Much Does Domain Privacy Protection Protect Site Owners
It depends on what you are trying to protect and who you are trying to protect it from. As mentioned, WHOIS will stop automated address harvesters from getting their hands on your details, but a focused attacker would find indirect ways to ascertain who the real owner is.
Lets imagine you run a business. If your business address is already listed on your website, theres no need to hide your details from the Whois database, as its already out there for anyone to find.
If you run a blog about your family life that you share with people all over the world, you will most likely want to keep your address hidden, and need privacy protection for your domain name to achieve this. Given that with Namecheap, domain privacy costs nothing, its worth having for peace of mind.
Is Bluehost Domain Privacy Protection Worth It Do You Really Need It
Domain Privacy protection is one of the essential key features you should care about while purchasing a domain.
Because this is how you can protect your personal information from spammers. Lets find out, is Bluehost Domain Privacy protection worth it, or is there an alternative?
Domain Privacy and Protection will be offered to you when you are buying a domain or choosing Bluehost hosting plan.
Before going into detail about Bluehost domain privacy lets figure out what domain privacy protection or whois guard is.
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What Is Domain Privacy Protection
I want you to think of Domain Privacy Protection as having your name and address UNLISTED in your local phone books or White Pages. Typically this service is provided for a modest yearly fee at White Pages or by your local phone carrier.
When you purchase a domain, you will have the option of adding the Godaddy Privacy Domain Protection at checkout. It cost $7.99/year and Godaddy will normally tack it on automatically as an upsell. This service blocks your personal info such as: Name, address, phone number, email, etc. Having this feature privatizes your info.
Secure Your Personal Details
Domain Privacy + Protection prevents your personal information from being exposed. ICANN, the international governing body for domain names, requires every domain registrar to maintain a publicly viewable “WHOIS” database that displays the personal contact information for every registered domain. With Domain Privacy + Protection enabled, we’ll show our information in place of yours.
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Domain Privacy Protection Keeps Your Contact Info Out Of The Hands Of Scammers
Spam is one thing, but people selling something you dont need is mostly just annoying. If theres one thing worse than spam, its scams. Having your contact information widely available gives scammers an easy way to contact you.
But thats not the only concern. Scammers are always out to get as much information on people as possible. When they know a lot about you, it makes them seem more convincing.
The WHOIS directory doesnt just provide contact information, it also includes information like who your domain registrar is and when your domain is due to renew. A savvy scammer could use that information to pose as your domain registrar to get you to pay a renewal fee to the wrong company.
Domain privacy protection is the best way to avoid being the target of scams like that.
Domain Registration Privacy Protection
By | Submitted On February 10, 2009
Every domain name has a publicly accessible record that includes the owner’s personal information. It’s called a WhoIs record and lists the registrant and contacts for the domain. Your name, address, city, state, zip, country, phone number and email address may be listed on the WhoIs record for your domain. It also shows when you registered your domain, when it will expire, where your website is hosted, and other technical details. You can view the record for your domain by going to domaintools.com and putting your domain in the box labeled “WhoIs Lookup” then clicking the “Search” button. These records are available anytime to anyone who does a search.
Why is the WhoIs record public info?
ICANN requires domain registrars to make your contact information available. It is used for some legitimate purposes such as verifying ownership of a domain name in a transfer request. Law enforcement agencies may use it when investigating illegal activity on the internet. Companies or individuals may also use these records to contact domain holders who are violating copyrights or other property rights.
So, what’s the big deal?
What can you do to protect your privacy?
Many domain registrars now offer a service called privacy protection. When you choose privacy protection, your personal information will not be listed on the WhoIs record. Instead, the information of the registrar’s privacy service will appear. You still own your domain.
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Do You Need To Make Your Domain Private
Only you can decide and drop the hammer on this. However, there are a number of reasons why people ask themselves this question during the Godaddy checkout screen.
The Godaddy Domain PrivacyProtection is 100% optional and not required to make a domain purchase. But should you just buy it anyway? One thing that you MUST remember is that if you DONT get domain privacy, then your personal information WILL be available to the public.
There are many disadvantages to not biting the bullet and adding the Godaddy Domain Privacy Protection.
For starters, your email will be flooded with spam-like emails from web developers and other sales oriented companies offering you their services. They will constantly try to market web design services, SEO services, etc. Also, your phone will also ring off the hook all day long with sales calls from out of state or unknown numbers. I say this because it has happened to me in the past.
So if you want to avoid unnecessary frustration, then prevent your personal info from being exposed on the public domain by getting the Godaddy domain privacy is worth it. However, if you are someone who doesnt care who calls you at all hours of the day and dont mind getting SPAM emails, then skip domain privacy.
How To Check If Your Contact Details Are Private
An easy way is to click here and enter your domain in to a Whois Lookup database.
You will then see what contact details are stored in the database for the domain you entered.
Below is a partial screenshot of a Whois query example.
To generate this query I used my test domain which is WhoisGuard protected. As you can see my personal details are not shown, instead they are replaced with details from WhoisGuard.
If you are a WhoisGuard user and have just discovered your personal contact details are showing in the Whois database, then check out this post which explains how to enable WhoisGuard from within your Namecheap account.
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Is Domain Privacy Worth It
Yes, domain privacy is worth it for those who want to avoid spam, solicitors, and hackers. Whats more, domain privacy doesnt have to come at an added cost. Many domain registrars include basic domain privacy for free, such as DreamHost, Namecheap, and Hover, so its worth taking the time to choose a provider that offers you the most protection at the best value.
Is Bluehost Domain Privacy Protection Worth It Or Just Crap
Yes! Bluehost Domain Privacy protection really worth it, because when you opt for domain privacy you save yourself from unsolicited emails and calls from spammers.
Also having domain privacy protection from Bluehost ensures that your private information will not be displayed publicly. Hence, domain privacy is totally worth it.
I hope now it is clear to you why domain privacy protection is necessary and why you need domain privacy with your domain.
lets find out,
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What Godaddy Is Doing Wrong About Privacy Heres What It Should Do
Story by
Founder and CEO of Secure Privacy. Partner at Experticon. Published author and former management consultant. Founder and CEO of Secure Privacy. Partner at Experticon. Published author and former management consultant.
GoDaddy cares about your privacy. For this reason, we collect and use personal data only as it might be needed for us to deliver to you our world-class products, services, websites, and mobile applications.
The above is a direct quote from GoDaddys privacy policy, and a fair statement to make in terms of the use of your personal data. That is, until you register a domain with the company.
Wherever it is youre situated, GoDaddy asks for users to pay for privacy protection. With privacy being a fundamental right to us all, it seems distasteful that a large domain registrar would charge a fee for this.
With the recent introduction of GDPR and the upcoming CCPA law in California I wanted to take a deeper look at GoDaddys business practices regarding data privacy and protection.
Should You Invest In Domain Privacy Protection
How domain privacy protection offers an added layer of security
When you purchase a domain name on any of the best web hosting services on the market, youll likely be greeted by a myriad of add-on features that you can purchase alongside the domain name. One useful featuredomain privacy protectionoften leaves many wondering whether they should invest in it.
Because this feature generally comes at a small fee, many are hesitant about whether to purchase it. The truth is, anyones personal data is susceptible to cyberattacks and data breaches. Therefore, while the add-on isnt mandatory, the extra security it provides to protect your website, personal information, and identity is definitely useful.
In this article, well look at a few of the reasons why you should invest in domain privacy protection: it’s also worth taking a look at our feature that outlines why domain privacy is important, and what it means for your business.
- Learn about how your web hosting impacts security
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Do I Need Bluehost Domain Privacy Protection Yes But See Why Here
Do I need Bluehost domain privacy protection? I have been building little websites like this one for a long time. But one of the questions that always comes up is domain privacy. Maybe you want to create a Bluehost website, but wondering is Bluehost domain privacy protection worth it or not? What do you do in this case? Do you buy it or not for your website? Keep reading to find out!
If you have Bluehost web hosting or thinking about using their hosting, then this is something that you MUST decide at checkout! So what should do? Should you buy the Bluehost domain privacy for all of your domains or is it just a waste of your money? Keep reading to discover what you should BEFORE getting started with Bluehost!
Take advantage of a special discount of $2.95/month RIGHT NOW!
What Is Domain Privacy And Do I Really Need It
What is domain privacy and do I really need it?
Did you know the contact details attached to your web hosting domain are publicly available thanks to the WHOIS listings? This is why HostPapa and other web hosting providers offer domain privacy for a small surcharge.
Now, you might ask yourself, do I really need it?
The simple answer is no. As a website owner, you do not need to purchase domain privacy. However, the service offers a number of important benefits, including reducing spam and unwanted solicitations. We think any website owner will be better off for making a small investment in his or her privacy. And in fact tens of thousands of HostPapa clients would probably agree!
What is domain privacy?
Every domain name has a WHOIS listing, which is a searchable database of registered domains. It is available to everyone on the Internet. Without domain privacy, or WHOIS privacy protection, all of your contact information is available to the public.
With WHOIS privacy, however, your personal information is shielded and the information belonging to your domain registrar is visible instead.
Even if you have a legitimate postal address and nothing to hide, WHOIS privacy can help:
- Control spam and junk snail mail.
- Hide your website from competitors doing market research.
- Prevent firms from capturing your information to resell to others.
- Avoid stalkers and fraudsters.
- Control your personal information and privacy. Do you really want everyone online knowing your address?
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Do You Need Domain Name Privacy
Once you have registered a domain name, your personal data, such as your name, physical address, e-mail and telephone number are saved in a publicly available database called WHOIS. Domain name privacy protection is an option that web hosting companies offer to prevent spamming and exposure of personal information of a domains registered owners.
Here at BlackSun, we do more than just provide powerful web hosting. We also provide extra tools to help protect our clients and their personal information. One of these features is Domain Privacy.
Domain Privacy protection can provide a sense of security, buying it is a choice, not a must-do for your business. At BlackSun we mask your personal information. You own your domain, but your contact information wont be publicly displayed.
You can trace the ownership of any domain on the internet using the WHOIS lookup feature. In the following image, we search the domain registrant details for Nike.com.
Below, we can see different information like the registrars names and when the registration expires. Moreover, in which city the company is located, address, phone and email.
For companies like Nike, it is not significant to have this information exposed. However, for smaller companies and business owners, this is sensitive information and should be protected.
In the following image, you can see how your information will look like if you decide to add BlackSuns ID protection to your domain names.