When you register a domain, your name, address, phone, and email become part of the public WHOIS database — searchable by anyone, scraped by spammers, indexed by data brokers. WHOIS privacy hides those details behind proxy contact info.
How we handle it
- Free, on most TLDs.
- On by default when you register or transfer in a domain.
- Toggleable from your domain detail page in Domains.
For the vast majority of domains, you don't need to think about it — it just works.
What WHOIS privacy does
When privacy is on, public WHOIS lookups for your domain show:
- A proxy contact email (forwarded to you).
- A generic privacy-service mailing address.
- Generic contact phone (forwarded if necessary).
- Your domain registration details (registrar, dates, nameservers) remain visible — those are required by ICANN.
Spammers, data brokers, and casual lookups can't extract your personal info.
What WHOIS privacy doesn't do
Privacy is about hiding your contact details from public lookup. It doesn't:
- Hide ownership from us — we know who you are (you signed up with us).
- Hide ownership from law enforcement with proper legal process.
- Anonymize the domain itself — the domain is still publicly registered.
- Affect DNS, hosting, email, or anything technical.
TLDs that can't have WHOIS privacy
Privacy is available on almost every generic TLD (.com, .net, .org, and the rest). But a number of country-code registries publish registrant data by policy and don't permit a privacy proxy at all. Check this before you register, not after - once the domain is live, your details are already public.
Extensions where privacy is not available, because the registry publishes holder data regardless:
.us- US registry policy requires real, public registrant information..in- India's registry publishes registrant data..eu- registrant details are published (individuals are redacted post-GDPR, but organisations stay public)..de- DENIC does not offer a privacy proxy..nl,.fr,.es- European registries with public holder data (individuals may be redacted; businesses are public)..au,.com.au- auDA policy makes registrant data public..ca- CIRA hides contact details for individuals automatically, but business registrant data is public and there is no add-on privacy.
If your TLD is on this list, the privacy toggle in the portal is disabled and we explain why. Common workarounds:
- Use a business address rather than your home address.
- Use a generic email (
whois@yourcompany.com) rather than a personal one. - Get a virtual mailbox if you don't want your home address public.
GDPR and the WHOIS landscape
Since GDPR (2018), most major registrars have started redacting personal data from WHOIS lookups by default for individuals in the EU — even without explicit privacy. We honor that for any registrant who indicates EU residency.
Our paid privacy proxy is a stronger guarantee — it works for all TLDs that allow it, regardless of where you live.
Toggling privacy
To turn privacy on or off:
- Go to Domains and click the domain.
- Find the ID Protection card.
- Toggle it.
Changes take a few minutes to propagate to the public WHOIS database.
Renewal
Privacy stays on as long as you have the domain with us. There's no separate renewal — it's bundled.
If you transfer the domain out to another registrar, you'll need to ask the new registrar about their privacy options. The privacy we apply is specific to our registration; it doesn't follow the domain.