I am considering registering a domain for personal email and a private family website. I don't want to have my home address or PO box, name and phone number available to the general public.
Are there any good options for doing this now without lying in the registration process? In doing my own research I found this:

I just found this Q&A in the GoDaddy.com FAQ:

Does my information on my domain name have to be public?

Question :
I did a WHOIS search on my domain name registered with Go Daddy and all my personal information was available? Is there anyway to hide that information?

Answer :
The information listed on your domain name has to be made publicly available per our agreement with ICANN, the governing body of domain names. We cannot hide that information from public view at this time. As well false information cannot be entered as that will violate the registration agreement and your domain name registration will be terminated. That is also by agreement with ICANN.

You may use alternate information that is correct such as a business address or phone number. However please do not enter false information as you may lose your domain name.

Go Daddy Software does plan on offering a service in the near future that will allow you to have Go Daddy's information listed on your domain name while you remain the legal owner per an agreement with us. Please check back with us as to when that will be available.
------------

I think this solution would be good for me. I have no idea how long it will be before GoDaddy will have this option available.
Does anyone know of any other hosts that already do this?

Stargate will let you enter -'s for all the fields you want to hide (ie. address, phone number, etc.)

if you want to remain semiprivate, get a tollfree number from a place like ureach.com for $5/month and a mailbox from mailboxes etc....kinda expensive but it works :D

There are other perfectly legal solutions, but they may not suit you.

a) Get it registered in a friend's name/details.

b) Get a subdomain instead. No whois will return results for a subdomain.

neureal (http://www.neureal.com) offer nice subdomain deals as do several other hosts. You just need to go look for them. I keep meaning to make a list of places that do this but I keep forgetting. Oh, hang on - dzones (http://www.dzones.com) also do it.

Also, if you get a .ws domain only your name shows up in whois, though I recommend against using the .ws registrar (wordsite.ws) - dotster and a few other registrars now offer .ws also.

In my opinion if you put false info i dont see how it could break a agreement,when you go to the store do they say your credit card number over the loudspeaker ? LOL


Try this,when it asks for a address (for instance your address is 9320 SkyView) just type SkyView Ln and dont type the house number.I suggest register a free 800 number voice mail number with yahoo and use that as a phone number.

When your information is public like that you will get alot of spam,phone calls etc.:puke:

Originally posted by BadBoy
In my opinion if you put false info i dont see how it could break a agreement,when you go to the store do they say your credit card number over the loudspeaker ? No. But why's that a valid analogy? The two situations have nothing in common.

It could, and does, break an agreement because ICANN's accreditation agreement with each registrar requires that the registrar collect that information, and when you agree to the registrar's terms that statement is one of the things you're agreeing to without reading them. :)

According to the policy, if you supply "unreliable or inaccurate" contact information and fail to correct it within 15 days of being notified, your registration can be cancelled. If you have a valuable domain name you might not want to take the risk -- especially if you are with one of those registrars that have been known to grab a name themselves and sell it at a premium; you might be giving them an opportunity.

Odds are, of course, that's not likely to happen. And no agency checks on the accuracy of the contact information, nobody enforces it, and if you check whois info on a bunch of domains you'll certainly find some that are obviously attempts to hide. As long as the admin contact email is correct, you'll probably be ok -- and the worst that might happen is your registrar might contact you and give you that 15-day notice.

The only thing I might worry about if the name in question is a good one is that if you were to get into a domain name dispute it'd be to your advantage to have everything legit. I've read UDRP arbitrator decisions in which this kind of stuff is cited.

No. But why's that a valid analogy? The two situations have nothing in common.



Yes they do "private information" is what they both have in common.

Originally posted by BadBoy
Yes they do "private information" is what they both have in common. Ah, but that's the difference! Domain name registration information is "public information."

Instead of looking at it like credit card information -- with which it clearly has little in common -- look at it like other readily available information. If you buy a house, that's a matter of public record. If you get sued, it's public information. If you incorporate, an address for the corporation is available to the public (in most states).

It has little in common with credit card information; in fact in some ways it's exactly the opposite. Making your credit card information available would make you an easy victim of fraud, but making domain name registration information available can be a barrier to fraud.

Originally posted by gadget
Stargate will let you enter -'s for all the fields you want to hide (ie. address, phone number, etc.)

Then this means that Stargate is breaking ICANN policy. I wouldn't be too surprised that they allow it but nonetheless, it still isn't allowed by ICANN. Which is the company overseeing domain names and registrations.

Originally posted by BadBoy
When your information is public like that you will get alot of spam,phone calls etc.

I'd have to disagree with this statement. In all the domains I've ever registered, I have never been hounded by spam to the e-mail addresses I've used to register them. The only e-mail address I mainly get spam from is a personal e-mail address. That's because all of my family and friends also have that address. They constantly send stuff through web sites about jokes, games, etc. And as far as being called all the time, that doesn't happen either. For the phone number I simply use a fax/voice mail number. It's my fax/voice mail number so if they call, they can leave a message. Or they can fax me with it. It works both ways. I just don't have to respond. Although I've never been contacted that way either.

Originally posted by markblair
I'd have to disagree with this statement. In all the domains I've ever registered, I have never been hounded by spam to the e-mail addresses I've used to register them. Yeah, I agree it's not that common. Personally I probably have 12 domain names and my company has about 40 or 50 at any given time. For both, I/we use "hostmaster@" addresses on the whois records, and in the daily flood of spam those addresses turn up pretty rarely -- much less so than addresses that have been spidered off of web sites, for example.

On the other hand, there are probably a dozen or two snail mail pieces a week from Interland, Registry of America, Netsol, and the like.

I think that you should put your accurate information in when you register your domain name. Mainly because it is part of the agreement that you are making when you register the domain name. Secondly because if someone wants your personal information bad enough, they can get it in other ways, other than your WHOIS record.

And Lastly. I am currently attempting to gain back a domain name that my registrar let expire (Yes, we have proof that we paid for the re-registration) and we believe sold to someone else under us. Currently, the person who “owns” the domain name has incorrect information in their WHOIS record. It is very frustrating that the current person who has stolen your domain name is unreachable.

I know that this would not be the case to many domain registrars, but it is for me and I would suggest being honest at all cost, not just for yourself, but for other domain registrars as well.

I have had no phone calls or email that I know of that has come from a direct result of any WHOIS record for my domain names. So I would have to say that is a false statement, claiming that you will get a lot of Spam and phone calls.

Originally posted by littlest
Currently, the person who “owns” the domain name has incorrect information in their WHOIS record. Hmm... maybe you can get the registrar to enforce the "accurate and reliable contact information" rule -- and cancel the registration! :)

Originally posted by JayC
Hmm... maybe you can get the registrar to enforce the "accurate and reliable contact information" rule -- and cancel the registration! :)

You bet we did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)

Still waiting to here from the registrar.

You watch tho, they get it unregistered.. than they re-register it or somebody else does.. I can just see it now. This has already token off about 10000000000000000000 years of my life.

In order to maintain privacy, you can try using one of the alternate domain names. I seem to recall that at least one of them didn't show the whois data. I don't remember if it was .cc, .ws, or one of the others.

You can also try registering a free name at dot.tk. Their free registrations have dot.tk as the domain owner, and they also have a privacy policy which precludes their giving your info out. The only disadvantage is that their free names are frame based (OK, not the end of the world). The names work, they're free, and they're private. You can get up to 3 free names.

They're should be plenty of good names available since .tk isn't exactly the most popular TLD around.

< This post has been edited. I was in error concerning .tk having popups. There are no ads or popups. >

I think co.uk dont show your full details....

Originally posted by Warp
I think co.uk dont show your full details....

They will do by july


http://www.nic.uk/whois-qanda.html

Gordon
(Nominet member)

simple solution, use your hosts address. they shoudl be fine with this and should also forward any mail, making is a totally legal proxy address and keeping everyone happy.

Originally posted by JayC
Ah, but that's the difference! Domain name registration information is "public information."

Instead of looking at it like credit card information -- with which it clearly has little in common -- look at it like other readily available information. If you buy a house, that's a matter of public record. If you get sued, it's public information. If you incorporate, an address for the corporation is available to the public (in most states).


there are cases in court currently that address this very topic. One that I am following closely is in reference to the usage of this information that is public information, it is along the lines of, is there a difference between public information and public domained information. public domained being defined as for the puclic to use for all and public information as being defined as a note.

cases I'm watching are 2 :

1 case involves the building codes that are issued via an association that are adopted at state and municipal codes ( case is about whom is the owner of the works ) because once it is in the law books the books are public domain information ( free ) the writers of these rules have the copyright of the work and charge construction companies for thier works.

the other case involves a client list that is posted oon a web site.
basically the web site stated that these are my clients and this is there reviews. a small company took that entire list and solicited each client. the question in this case is, did the soliciting company have the right to contact these client using the information gained from the web site.

the later case is important to me. because it relates to hosting and clients. anybody can scan a dns and get each site that is there. then spam those clients. infact back in January( i think) WHT provided such a service for 1 or 2 days. multiple scans to many different people happened. I infact was scanned myself. Now here is the problem, let's say you have 10000 accounts and overnight you lost 10% of your business because of the above scans them spams, whom do you hold liable. It's required to have information on your dns, that is open's the hole along the lines above.

we shall see the end results in due time.

Mike

Originally posted by richy
simple solution, use your hosts address. they shoudl be fine with this and should also forward any mail, making is a totally legal proxy address and keeping everyone happy.

And what happens if you get in an argument with your host and cancel your service? Then they decide to stick it to you and hassle you over the domain name. According to all records, it's theirs. Who would win? Why go through all that for a little bit of privacy that I'm sure if someone wanted to get, could without going through whois information? I still don't understand why people insist on being private. I understand the fear that the wrong person will get the information but this is the same information anyone could get by simply following you home and documenting your home address. All they'd have to know is your name and they could get that from your trash.

:) co uks are weird, you get a certificate for em. that certificate no the address dictate who owns it and of course it would be forwarded to the client.
i understand what your saying, i wouldnt hold a domain unless under extreme circumstances e.g. they didnt pay, and then i would release it for a normal charge for a domain and assist in changing to a new host. maybe im more honest then some but its not worth my reputation to do otherwise.
some people are REALLY upset about this in the uk and theres no real need. theres a solution available, use a proxy or care of address. your host should offer this for you and if you dont trust them then what are you doing with them :)

BTW, just to clarify everything. I, too, agree that information in whois records should be private. If someone wants to gain access to that information, it shouldn't be as easy as it currently is. I have found people using whois information to track them down for getting a refund. This was from a hosting company that gave false information on how to contact them and would never reply. Since then, they've gone out of business. However, since this is a policy of ICANN, I don't think breaking their policy is the correct measure. Instead, there should be more of these kind of topics addresses with ICANN and any other organization that is responsible for making our whois information public. Then we may actually see a change in this policy.

Originally posted by markblair
Why go through all that for a little bit of privacy that I'm sure if someone wanted to get, could without going through whois information? I still don't understand why people insist on being private. I understand the fear that the wrong person will get the information but this is the same information anyone could get by simply following you home and documenting your home address. All they'd have to know is your name and they could get that from your trash.

You sir, have never been a victim of identity theft. let's just compare it to something we all have experianced. air turbulance, ever drop 1000 feet due to a wind sheer, you'll enjoy that alot more than when you get your identity stolen. When they get your information they , buy porn, buy a car, take a second mortage on your house ( yes that happens also ), buy furninture and live the high life. what happens to you, you get depressed, your credit can be ruined, you spend 2 hours every day for the next 2 years cleaning your history, then you catch the bastards, police can not do anything because they are not familiar with the due process of the law in this cases, you have to teach them the due process of this type of case by finding every example. fbi can not get involved because they never crossed state lines, help them build up a case. case goes to court they get 30 days and then you file cival charges, you wait for your turn in court, in the mean time you've lost you reputation, your credit history, and even some basic pleasures. Oh yes once it happens you get a stigma. and that stigma stays for many years.

privacy is a rare commodity, europe defends there privacy right very much, here in the USA they don't do it so much ...


Mike

Hello

There is a difference between privacy and secrecy.

We register many domain names and have only had this issue raised by people who were involved in activities which were questionable (either morally or legally).

The bottom line is that nobody needs and internet domain name.
If you decide to register one then the trade off is making your name and address details public.

Also if the whois database is not accurate then there is no accountablity.
How are you going to trace spam?
How are you going to trace or prevent fraud?

What would happen if wea llowed IP's to be assigned anonymously?

Would you drive a car without registration documents and licence plates?

Its all an issue of responsibility and the internet is growing up.
There is a realisation that we need more accountability
in order to make the net a safer place.
Like any society that means rules (laws) and having your name in the whois is just part of that.

Gordon

Originally posted by ADEhost
You sir, have never been a victim of identity theft.
And having one's name and address in a WHOIS record will not contribute to or be the proximate cause of that happening, either. So give us a break, here.

The ICANN system of requiring full disclosure in WHOIS records is the right one, in my opinion. It implemented the policy so that the owner of a domain could be easily found and contacted if there were any sort of emergency or problem. That is essential since there often are emergencies and problems that require one being able to contact a domain's rightful owner immediately.

Furthermore, the Internet is already rife is scammers and schemers who find all manner of ways to hide from those whom they harm. It's a fairly anonymous place where people already have a hard time figuring out with whom they're doing business. Making WHOIS records confidential will only exacerbate that problem and further dilute trust.

If one wants to keep others from showing-up on their doorstep because said others found one's address in a WHOIS record somewhere, then one should make an investment in the price of a Mailbox, Etc. (or equivalent) private mailbox and a uReach toll-free telephone number (both relatively inexpensive) in order to ensure their privacy. Either would be permissable under ICANN's rules so long as one actually went and got mail from the private mailbox and actually checked messages in the uReach account.

As for the contact email address, one should simply use one's regular email address when one first registers the domain name. Then, immediately upon receipt of one's ability to access a control panel of some sort where one can make changes to one's WHOIS record, one should simply go back into it and change the contact email address to something like "registrant@one'sdomain.com" or whatever will be so generic that it will not lead people directly to the person who is so worried about his or her privacy. Just make sure that the contact email address actually forwards to, and/or that mail sent to it somehow ends-up in, the true inbox of the true registrant.

I am a privacy advocate to the core. I agree that the U.S. is falling behind other nations in ensuring individual privacy, generally. And I agree that that's bad and is now and will continue to have seriously negative consequences for innocent people. But it is at least partly the responsiblity of those who wish to ensure their privacy to do things that are consistent with that desire. And renting a private mailbox, getting a uReach number, and using a generic alias at the registered domain name as the contact email address, just seems like common sense to me.

Just my .02 worth -- which, I realize, many would argue is all it's worth.

Originally posted by DesElms

And having one's name and address in a WHOIS record will not contribute to or be the proximate cause of that happening, either. So give us a break, here.

Just my .02 worth -- which, I realize, many would argue is all it's worth.

Hi there Gregg,

I will agree that some of your points are interesting, but free information should not be that free. I read some of your spirited debates on information and privacy and censorship. You bring up good points.

I for one prefer that privacy be keeped at a maximum. do I think a whois is important, yes. do I think the matter should be kept private yes, I also want to know whom is looking up the information. for example I use on my CC a company that informs me if someone looks me up. then then send a letter to me to inform me. I can then question those individuals and proceed with whatever action I deem required.

something like that is what I would like to see. a check and balence.

Mike

p.s.
I would enjoy having coffee with you on the topic of america viewership habits and news perception. so if I'm ever on the west coast I will most surely look you up.

Having your information in a whois record is unlikely to be the sole reason for identity theft. Furthermore, this reminds me about gun laws. Many would argue that if the government allows everyone (under certain circumstances) to own and carry a gun, that crime will rise. I disagree. The United States needs to worry about keeping and enforcing the current laws they have and not making new ones by restricting the rights of other honest citizens. Similar to having your information in a whois record. If someone were to use that in an illegal form, shouldn't the current laws take care of them? Why doesn't the government, and whoever else is involved, take action according to current laws. Instead of forcing something new down everyone's throat to protect the few, very few, that are affected by this.

This could get onto another topic so I don't want to switch the topic here. Like I said earlier, I still believe having personal information public like what is found in a whois record is not a good thing. I don't believe it should be blocked entirely, though. As I've experienced, having this information available helped me once in the past. And I never tried to steal anyone's identity. I just wanted my money returned that I was due back.

Originally posted by markblair
Like I said earlier, I still believe having personal information public like what is found in a whois record is not a good thing. I don't believe it should be blocked entirely, though. As I've experienced, having this information available helped me once in the past. And I never tried to steal anyone's identity. I just wanted my money returned that I was due back.

And so what would you have done if the information had not been available?

Originally posted by ADEhost
I will agree that some of your points are interesting,
Unfortunately, I fear they're interesting for many in the same way that a car accident along the side of the road is interesting to gapers who slow everything down for traffic behind even though the accident itself isn't actually blocking traffic in any way -- sort of the "it's so hideous I can't take my eyes off of it" response.

Originally posted by ADEhost
but free information should not be that free. I read some of your spirited debates on information and privacy and censorship. You bring up good points.

I for one prefer that privacy be keeped at a maximum.
Okay, depending on how you define "maximum," I'm guessing we agree so far.

Originally posted by ADEhost
do I think a whois is important, yes.
Okay, we're still on the same wavelength.

Originally posted by ADEhost
do I think the matter should be kept private yes,

Ah! There's where it falls apart for me.

Originally posted by ADEhost
I also want to know whom is looking up the information.
Not an unreasonable request, on its face, though I can see many opportunities for problems.

Originally posted by ADEhost
for example I use on my CC a company that informs me if someone looks me up. then then send a letter to me to inform me. I can then question those individuals and proceed with whatever action I deem required.
What do you mean "looks me up," exactly? Do you mean looks at your credit rating? Or looks at your credit card information? And, if the latter, in what context... by what means and for what purpose?

Originally posted by ADEhost
I would enjoy having coffee with you on the topic of america viewership habits and news perception. so if I'm ever on the west coast I will most surely look you up.
Sounds like fun. It's a date. You know how to get in touch with me... obviously.

Originally posted by DesElms
And so what would you have done if the information had not been available?

Well, it wouldn't have been the first step backwards. The basic of that situation is that I signed up with a hosting company (Hosting Plans in case anyone was interested) in January of 1999. My site worked probably for a couple of weeks, if that. They backed out on tons of promises, etc., etc. So trying to cancel was an option but didn't work. From February through probably May I tried several other methods. I never even thought of checking the whois information until I read on WebAssured.com about someone doing that. That's one reason I'm not so worried about the information being there. I'm not too sure many people know to even look there. Unless you have been around for awhile.

When I did find their information in the whois, I contacted my state's Attorney General and they sent a nice letter to the company for me. By the end of that summer, still another three months waiting, I received the refund.

To your question. What would I have done? Probably contacted the Arizona Attorney General's office. The company in question ran their business out of Arizona which was listed on their website. In the United States, you are required to pay state taxes if you run a business. He would have had to been registered with the state of Arizona. And if not, I'm sure there would have been another way to find him. Basically, the whois was the fastest method but not my last option by a long shot.

BTW, Hosting Plans (www.hostingplans.com) is gone but the guy that ran that company has a brother who runs ArizonaHost (www.arizonahost.com). I wouldn't use either since I couldn't trust one I can't trust the other.

I even contacted the owner of ArizonaHost during the whole ordeal and that was one way I did get in contact with the person running Hosting Plans.

Originally posted by markblair
Basically, the whois was the fastest method but not my last option by a long shot.

I don't even know how to respond to this.

It's not often I'm at a loss for words.

Enjoy.

Originally posted by DesElms
I don't even know how to respond to this.

It's not often I'm at a loss for words.

Enjoy.

Just to clarify. What was meant by that statement was that if I didn't find the contact information in the whois record, I wouldn't have given up. I heard of someone else finding a person using whois information but didn't think of it until I heard about it. I would have continued to search other methods including the Attorney General, state records, etc. until I was successful. The amount of the refund was substantial but nothing I could have issued a lawsuit over. Also, I can't guarantee that I wouldn't have found the hosting company without the whois information. That's why it was so helpful.

I'm not quite sure how ICANN can make improvements on people having their information private when issues like the one I encountered would benefit that same information being public. It's no doubt that this will be a major discussion topic no matter who is talking about it.

Originally posted by DesElms


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Originally posted by ADEhost
for example I use on my CC a company that informs me if someone looks me up. then then send a letter to me to inform me. I can then question those individuals and proceed with whatever action I deem required.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you mean "looks me up," exactly? Do you mean looks at your credit rating? Or looks at your credit card information? And, if the latter, in what context... by what means and for what purpose?


Sounds like fun. It's a date. You know how to get in touch with me... obviously.

Real easy, I use a firm that monitors my credit information from all the companies that do reporting. if someone inquires via most means about me and my credit histories I will be informed.

Now what I do with those reports is the following, I personally keep a list of whom I've signed releases to ( leasing companies, specific banks ... ) but every now and them some odd company will show up in the request of information report and I will back track them to a the requesting party. It's my right ( as a resident on NJ don't know about anywhere else ) that if any party request credit information on me ( as a NJ resident ) they must have a signed request from me. otherwise you can not run a check on me legally.

last month I fould a company that delt with equifax, that release my personal data. I hit the wall because I wanted to know whom is running a credit report on me ( 99% of all the request are legit, you see the company name and phone number right there ) equifax told me whom the firm was, butthat firm would not disclose whom there client is. So now I have an attorney working on it and the response date should be soon. again I have these rights, I will exersize them.

infact a quick note to protect yourself. http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs24a-letter.htm
plus spen some time reading the forum to help yoursself to your privacy.

I had to mail the form letter that they have on site to 64 different firms I will be truthful that I think all the big companies have complied, the smaller ones no.

I can rattle on about privacy ( and the lack of ) but that's for another day.

there are some differences here that I should point out, one is the report of your credit that is what I'm protecting. the other is the scan for specific consumer profiles ( those are broad based) does not happen much since I'm opted out of most things.