What Is Domain Privacy and How to Implement It
It’s safe to say that your domain name pretty much defines your online identity. And as such, your domain name is also one of the most publicly available features of your business. That being said, there are certain elements related to your domain name that are best kept private. To be more specific, the information that you give out during the purchase of your domain is going to be easily accessible by the public as well. And it’s needless to say that this can directly jeopardize your privacy and make you subject to spam, among other things.
Luckily for you, there is an easy and efficient way to make this information private – and that is by applying domain privacy measures when buying your domain. Thus, we’ve decided to talk more about what domain privacy stands for as well as show you how to easily implement it on your site during your domain purchase. We are also going to show you how to do this using the examples of some of the well-known domain registrars, so stay tuned.
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When planning to purchase your domain, you’ll be expected to leave some vital information aside from the payment details. In most cases, you are usually required to give:
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Your email address
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Your business address
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Your telephone number
And while giving away this type of information is pretty much a standard for most online purchases, in the case of buying a domain, this information stops being private and becomes public the moment you give it over. And this is exactly where domain privacy comes into the picture.
Simply put, domain privacy is a feature meant to protect your personal information from being accessible in the Whois database (the public database where everyone can look up information about registered domain names). And while this database is quite useful when you want to ensure that your domain name is unique and that no existing domain names match yours (to avoid running into any legal issues), some of the personal information out there can be easily misused.
Ensuring online privacy is one of the most important things you can do for your website, and this is also the case with your domain privacy as well. Namely, by implementing domain privacy, you keep all your personal information (including contact info) from being publicly available. This means getting less email spam and unwanted phone calls. And yes – many people actually use the Whois database to send cold emails and make phone calls, making offers you probably aren’t interested in in the first place. Aside from avoiding spam and junk mail, this will also help you protect your website from any competitors who are performing market research.
Moreover, by implementing domain privacy measures, you will prevent businesses from selling your personal information to others and even avoid identity theft. Finally, you will take care of your personal information in general by keeping it from becoming public knowledge.
If you’ve already purchased a domain for your site, then we recommend that you check whether you’ve already set domain privacy on your site before you do anything else. There’s always the possibility you’ve enabled domain privacy during your domain purchase automatically, without even realizing you’ve done so in the first place. After all, many domain registrars offer a domain privacy feature for free, so chances are it may have been added to your purchase by default.
To see whether you’ve applied privacy protection to your domain, you just need to go to the Whois database and insert your domain name in the search bar. Like this:
After you click the search button, the results will display some information related to the domain itself as well as its registrar and registrar dates. For more detailed info and to truly see if your personal information is publicly available, you should check out the Raw Whois Data section.
If your domain data is protected, you will either see that all phone numbers, as well as email and other addresses, are completely redacted or that they look generic (or simply aren’t yours). Like this:
If you have yet to buy your website domain, then you will most likely be able to get access to the domain privacy service when buying your own domain. More specifically, you will find this feature at the checkout of the domain registrar website. We will show you how to add a domain privacy feature using two of the well-known services – Google Domains and Namecheap.
Also, just a quick note before we proceed – some top-level domains (like .al, .at, .ca, .de, etc.) allow you to have privacy protection by default, though the level of privacy may vary from domain to domain. For example, some domains come with the default protection that hides address and phone numbers only, while others make sure that no data is published for the public, except in cases of companies and associations.
On the other hand, certain domains (like .us, .it, .in, and .au) forbid you from keeping your information private altogether and require you to make it known to the public, no matter what. Therefore, you should check what privacy options are allowed on the domain you’re interested in (or if any are allowed at all) before you proceed.
Google Domains is one of the newer Google services. This service might be ideal for you if you’re using Google Workspace apps (formerly known as GSuite). The way this service handles domain privacy is as simple as it can get – the feature can be applied for free at checkout. After you choose your domain, add it to cart and go to checkout. Once there, you will see the option called Privacy Protection. This option is most likely switched on by default (it’s called “Privacy protection is on”):
Namecheap is another great domain registrar company well known for offering low-cost domain names. To activate domain privacy using their service, you have to go through a very similar process to the one on Google Domains. So, after adding your available domain name to the cart, you should click on Checkout.
Once there, you will see that the Domain Privacy option is enabled by default and also available for free.
The process for most domain registrar services is the same as the one we’ve shown in the examples above. Keep in mind, however, that there’s always a chance that some registrars still apply charges for domain privacy. We advise you to calculate the total costs at the checkout before finally making your purchase so as not to end up with any unforeseen expenses.
While the domain privacy feature is most often activated during the purchase of the registrar, in most cases you can also switch it on after the purchase as well. So, to apply domain privacy on a website that already has its own domain, you need to access your own domain registrar dashboard first.
What’s good is that most registrars come with a similar-looking dashboard, though there are slight variations depending on the service itself.
For example, here’s what GoDaddy’s domain dashboard looks like:
Hit the Manage button next to the domain that you want to add domain privacy to. Once you do this, a new page will open, displaying your plan info. Make sure to hit the Upgrade button to begin the process of applying domain privacy. There are a few upgrade options available (basic, full domain, and ultimate privacy protection). You will need to check each option carefully before you pick the domain privacy plan that works the best for you.
If you’re using Namecheap, the process of adding domain privacy is similar. Once again, you need to access your dashboard and hit the Manage button located next to your domain:
Then, simply switch on the Protection button.
In Conclusion
Applying domain privacy on your site is essential for keeping your personal information safe and out of the wrong hands. If you already own a website domain, you should first check if you’ve already activated domain privacy on your site by using the help of the Whois search tool. Then, you can go to your domain registrar account and see if there’s an option to switch on domain privacy. If you have yet to buy a domain for your site, you’ll be happy to hear that many domain registrars offer the domain privacy feature for free. You just have to figure out which option works the best for your site and make sure that the domain privacy option is switched on during your domain purchase.
