Domain privacy

Empirical · 04/01/12 - 00:19

Can anyone recommend a domain privacy service? Has anyone used one? Are they any good, or are they going to steal my money and bugger my cats?

[Deleted User] · 04/01/12 - 00:27

Never needed one, got several domains, some personal some business, and don't really get spam or unsolicited calls from any of the details I have published in the whois. Few reputable companies doing domain privacy though so as long as you don't go for the .99 per year unheard of American company with no contact details you'll probably be fine.

Brush Master · 04/01/12 - 06:07

Will not every decent registrar offer this? NetworkSolutions charges extra for it, but then, I said decent.

I think it is a reasonable precaution, but I agree with Lurch in that I have not seen a change of spam or junk mail levels after going private some years ago.

[Deleted User] · 04/01/12 - 12:38

Not so long ago many registrars, US-based at least, seemed to offer it for .com domains for free as standard. I think most have stopped now though, but you can occasionally still get it cheap. I transferred a few domains to NameCheap.com and got free privacy for the first year, I think, then it's about $2.99/yr. I think Name.com also offer it reasonably cheap.

Personally, I have never paid for it and have only used it when it was free. Unless you're running a particularly controversial site, I'm not sure there's really anything to worry about. The only "unauthorised" bit of post I ever received relating to the domain was a well-known "scam" where by a company sends you a letter about your expiring domain and offers to renew it for an extreme amount of money. It went straight into the bin. I never noticed any change with regards to spam (the privacy service usually forwards e-mails anyway) and I've never had any unsolicited phone calls. I don't think it's worth much money.

flagpole · 04/01/12 - 12:45

i have some experience of http://www.whoisguard.com and they work pretty well. i don't know how reputable they are but i've had dealings with them over what 5 years, without issue.

Empirical · 04/01/12 - 15:27

Brush Master wrote: »

Will not every decent registrar offer this? NetworkSolutions charges extra for it, but then, I said decent.

Unfortunately because I opted to put an organisation name when I registered 1&1 will not allow me to opt out or hide my details. They insist I must be a company and the only way to opt out is for said non existent company to prove it both doesn't exist and has no affiliation.:rolleyes:

Other than that I have no desire to move from 1&1 and the cost to protect my details with one of these companies is negligible.

On the Rocks · 04/01/12 - 15:44

1&1 is shit. Their customer service is nonexistent, it's like dealing with a German robot. Stay away.

Gandi offer whois privacy as a free service with domain registration - no extra fees to pay: https://www.gandi.net/

BK. · 04/01/12 - 17:46

I use WhoisGuard which I get free with my domains from NameCheap.com.

First year is free, then a few quid thereafter (or you can just cancel it after the first year).

[Deleted User] · 05/01/12 - 20:35

Empirical wrote: »

Unfortunately because I opted to put an organisation name when I registered 1&1 will not allow me to opt out or hide my details. They insist I must be a company and the only way to opt out is for said non existent company to prove it both doesn't exist and has no affiliation.:rolleyes:

Other than that I have no desire to move from 1&1 and the cost to protect my details with one of these companies is negligible.

Is this a .uk domain ? If so, it sounds like 1 & 1 are making a rather strange interpretation of the Nominet rules and if your website is purely personal then you should be able to opt out of having your address on the WHOIS.

FYI: the Nominet rules (for .co.uk etc) state that:

Only domain name holders that are non-trading individuals can opt out of having their address details published on the WHOIS. In other words, if you do not use or plan to use your domain name for business, trade (this includes the registration of domain names for monetisation purposes, e.g. pay per click advertising etc) or professional transactions, you will be entitled to opt out of having your address displayed.

This is designed to protect customers of commercial websites so that they should be able to get contact details in the event of problems...
It sounds like entering a company name in your registration with 1 & 1 has set a field within their system which prevents you from opting out...

Empirical · 05/01/12 - 21:12

JPB2 wrote: »

It sounds like entering a company name in your registration with 1 & 1 has set a field within their system which prevents you from opting out...

Its .com

And yes that is whats happened. There was no warning and no way to remove it.

Loobster · 06/01/12 - 03:07

GoDaddy's Domains by Proxy service is good and I use it on my personal domains.

Hey there!

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