Overview
The following provides answers to common questions about domain registration privacy.
FAQs
Why should I be concerned about domain registration privacy?
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When you purchase a domain registration, ICANN requires you to submit personal details such as your name and address. When the purchase is complete, these personal details are publicly accessible to anyone running a WHOIS lookup.
Domain registration privacy offers you the option to replace your personal information in the domain's public WHOIS with anonymous information, thereby protecting your personal data.
What information is public?
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When you run a WHOIS query, several personal details of the owner of the registration are available such as:
- Full name
- Full address
- Phone number
- Email address
To protect yourself against malevolent individuals, it's highly recommended that you enable privacy protection for your registration.
How do I enable privacy protection?
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See this article for details on how to enable free privacy protection.
Is this service free?
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Yes. DreamHost offers domain privacy for free (for supported TLDs). Most other registrars charge for this service, adding to the cost of a registration.
How do I display my contact information publicly?
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Due to laws on data protection and privacy, if you need your WHOIS information displayed publicly, please contact support.
Can I transfer a domain that's using WHOIS privacy?
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Yes. WHOIS privacy does not need to be disabled in order to transfer a domain away from DreamHost.
What happens when an email is sent to the privacy address?
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Since your WHOIS information is private, the email listed in a WHOIS lookup is a proxy address, not your actual address. If an email is sent to this proxy address, it forwards to the email you configured in your contact's WHOIS information.
What domain registrations do not support privacy?
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Not all TLDs allow privacy to be enabled. The following do not allow privacy to be added at DreamHost:
- .am
- .archi
- .asia
- .at
- .audio
- .auto
- .barcelona
- .bz
- .ca
- .car
- .cars
- .click
- .co.nz
- .co.uk
- .de
- .diet
- .es
- .eu
- .film
- .flowers
- .fm
- .game
- .gift
- .guitars
- .help
- .hiphop
- .hosting
- .in
- .inc
- .io
- .jp
- .la
- .law
- .link
- .lol
- .me.uk
- .mom
- .net.nz
- .ngo
- .nyc
- .ong
- .org.nz
- .org.uk
- .physio
- .pics
- .pro
- .property
- .quebec
- .tel
- .uk
- .us
- .vote
- .xxx