Is it worth to get domain privacy protection?
Is it worth to get domain privacy protection? If you are expecting a short answer, the answer is no but keep in mind without privacy protection (WHOIS guard) you are exposing your contact details to everyone.
When you are buying (registering) a domain, you have to provide the following details to the domain registrar to verify your ownership.
- Your first name and last name
- Your email address
- Your postal address
- Your phone number
All of this information will be published on the WHOIS ↱ database if you do not have domain privacy protection.
Why do you need domain privacy protection (WHOIS guard)?
First of all select a reputed domain name seller like Namecheap, Godaddy, Name.com. Some small domain name selling companies sell their customer details anyway. So, it’s pointless to having domain privacy protection.
- Your personal data is exposed to anyone.
- You will get spam emails and unwanted sales calls.
- Data selling is a hot topic on the internet. Anyone can include your information on their selling list.
- Scammers can create fake identities using your information.
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Domain Privacy protection FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about domain privacy protection and general domain purchasing.
How to make the decision about privacy protection?
The real question is “Do you want to show your personal information publicly or not”. If you are a business and you already have all of this information publicly available, there is no point in buying privacy protection at all. But, if you are concern about your privacy leaks you should consider buying privacy protection.
Can I provide fake information when buying a domain?
There might be valid reasons not to provide your real details. Before you do this, make sure to read the Terms & Conditions of the domain name provider. They may or may not allow to put fake details. According to ICANN, you must provide real information. Read more
Some ICANN extensions required to verify your real ownership (via ID) in order to buy the domain. For example country-code domain names (ccTLDs) like .us, co.uk. In this case, you have to provide your real information.
Are there free domain privacy protections?
Yes. Namecheap provider domain privacy protection free (forever) when you registering a domain with them.
Conclusion
Is it worth to get domain privacy protection? As I mentioned it depends on your situation. If all of your details already publicly available, there is no need of having privacy protection. But, if you can find free privacy protection, there is no reason to ignore it.