Table of Contents

  1. What Is Domain Privacy Protection?
  2. How Does Domain Privacy Protection Work?
  3. What Is WHOIS Lookup?
  4. 5 Reasons Why You Need Domain Privacy Protection
    1. Protect the Contact Details and Personal Information
    2. Prevent Spam Emails
    3. Prevent Scam Phone Calls
    4. Prevent Domain Theft
    5. Prevent Unwanted Traffic
  5. How to Activate Domain Privacy on 10Corp
  6. How to Enable WHOIS Protection for New Domains
  7. How to Enable WHOIS Protection for Existing Domains
  8. How to Check if Your Domain Privacy Is Enabled
  9. GDPR and Domain Privacy
  10. Domain Privacy FAQ
    • How Much Does Domain Privacy Cost?
    • Can I Get Domain Privacy Protection for Free?
    • How Secure Is Domain Privacy?
    • Is Domain Privacy Protection Available for Every Domain?

What Is Domain Privacy Protection?

Domain privacy protection is a service that hides your WHOIS information from the public. By using this feature, website owners will be less prone to spam messages and identity theft.

How Does Domain Privacy Protection Work?

To register a domain, the owner must submit their contact details, such as the name, organization, location, phone number, and email address. These personal details, along with the registration and expiration dates, IP address, and domain registrar, will be accessible through the public directory. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires this information to verify and authenticate the domain’s registrant. However, making these details public also leaves room for malicious intent. With the WHOIS privacy services, site owners and administrators can conceal their sensitive information in the public directory.

What Is WHOIS Lookup?

WHOIS Lookup is a tool for searching the details of any domain. Since it extracts the information from the official WHOIS database, its accuracy is guaranteed. 10Corp provides a WHOIS Lookup tool you can use for free. Simply enter the website address, and it will reveal the domain’s current owner, registrar, and expiration date.

5 Reasons Why You Need Domain Privacy Protection

  1. Protect the Contact Details and Personal Information: During domain name registration, it’s mandatory to submit your actual contact details for security purposes. ICANN will recognize the listed person or organization as the legal owner of the web address. Using false contact information may lead to a legal dispute about the domain name’s ownership. However, since your contact details are stored in public, anyone can easily retrieve the information. Cyber criminals might use the data to gain access to your website and install malicious software. Moreover, they can steal customers’ sensitive data or leak your internal documents to competitors. As a result, you might lose money and the customers’ trust. For that reason, it’s safer to keep your confidential information private using the WHOIS protection service.
  2. Prevent Spam Emails: Another advantage of using domain privacy service is preventing spam emails. Marketers often use WHOIS records to collect your email address and send plenty of promotional offers. Spam emails may also contain viruses, which can lead to security breaches. By activating privacy protection for domain names, spammers will see a dummy email address instead of your real one.
  3. Prevent Scam Phone Calls: The WHOIS directory is a great source for telemarketing companies to gather phone numbers. When your mobile number is publicly available, expect to receive various marketing and sales calls. A fraudster might also contact you to market fake products and services. Even worse, they can pretend to offer domain renewal services when your domain is expiring soon. Contact your registrar first before providing personal information on these types of calls. With WHOIS protection enabled, scammers won’t have access to your contact information.
  4. Prevent Domain Theft: Domain theft occurs when someone changes your domain’s registration details without permission. A common hijacking method involves using the domain owner’s personal information to access their email address and domain registrar account. After gaining full control, hackers can use the website for phishing attacks. They will replace the real web pages with identical ones to manipulate visitors and collect their sensitive information. To prevent financial loss and reputational damage, we recommend enabling domain privacy and protection. The dummy email address will give hackers an extra obstacle when breaking into your account.
  5. Prevent Unwanted Traffic: Unwanted traffic usually takes the form of junk emails or bad bots. These bots crawl your website for malicious intent, such as triggering DDoS attacks or clogging it with fake signups. Receiving unwanted traffic can cause overloads in your site’s storage and server resources. As a result, the website will run slowly or become inaccessible to visitors. To tackle this issue, conceal your personal data. This way, cyber criminals will have a more challenging time sending you spam.

How to Activate Domain Privacy on 10Corp

10Corp provides free privacy protection for eligible top-level domains (TLDs), including .com, .net, .shop, and other popular extensions.

However, due to restrictions imposed by the registry operator, some TLDs do not support privacy protection for non-EU citizens:

  • Generic top-level domains – .mobi, .space, .pro.
  • Sponsored top-level domains – .cat, .asia, .istanbul, .ist.
  • Country-code top-level domains – .ru, .es, .de, .ca, .nl, .be, .ch, .pl, .cz, .se, .nu, .fi, .gr, .us, .ag, .am, .at, .bz, .cl, .cx, .dk, .la, .lc, .lt, .lu, .lv, .me, .mn, .mx, .pt, .sc, .vc.
  • Second-level extensions – .com.es, .com.ru, .com.br, .com.mx, .com.pl, .com.pt, .com.au, .net.ru, .net.in, .net.mx, .net.pl, .org.ru, .org.es, .org.in, .org.br, .nom.es, .co.in .gen.in, .firm.in, .ind.in, .biz.pl, .info.pl.
    On the other hand, EU citizens are protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Their personal data will be hidden by default for all TLDs, except for .us and .fr. If you want to activate WHOIS protection for .fr domains, contact our Customer Success agents.

How to Enable WHOIS Protection for New Domains

Before registering a new domain, check its availability using our Domain Name Search tool. If the web address is available, add it to the cart and follow the instructions. The domain privacy feature will be added automatically during checkout.

Here’s how to register a new domain:

  1. Select the domain registration period.
  2. Create a new 10Corp account or log in to your existing one.
  3. Choose a payment method.
  4. Fill in your information.
  5. Click Submit Secure Payment.

How to Enable WHOIS Protection for Existing Domains

If you have an existing domain name, follow these steps to activate domain privacy:

  1. Login to My 10Corp → Domains.
  2. Select the intended domain name under My domains.
  3. Scroll down to the WHOIS Privacy option.
    4. Toggle on the button.

How to Check if Your Domain Privacy Is Enabled

To check whether your domain information is already hidden, perform a WHOIS lookup:

  1. Visit a domain lookup tool like WHOIS.
  2. Type in your domain name on the search bar and click Search.
  3. Scroll down to see the Registrant, Administrative, and Technical Contact information. When the WHOIS privacy service is disabled, your records will be visible to the public. On the other hand, the personal information of domain owners who use the privacy protection service will be hidden. The domain privacy provider usually replaces your email with a dummy or a forwarding address to hide your sensitive data.

For example, when looking for ZARA’s WHOIS information, the actual email address is switched to zara.com-registrant@anonymised.email.

GDPR and Domain Privacy

For the most part, European Union citizens do not need a WHOIS privacy service. This is because the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws will automatically protect their WHOIS information.

ICANN also implemented the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data to comply with the GDPR while also keeping its policies intact. Therefore, even if your personal information is made private, some of the data will still be available to the public, such as:

  • Internet Protocol (IP) address
  • Sponsoring registrar
  • Domain name registration and expiration dates
    Non-EU users need to enable domain privacy manually to enforce the Temporary Specification.

Domain Privacy FAQ

How Much Does Domain Privacy Cost?
WHOIS protection cost varies depending on the provider. Some domain registrars charge around $10-20/year, while others – like 10Corp – provide free domain registration privacy.

Can I Get Domain Privacy Protection for Free?
Yes, absolutely. With 10Corp, privacy protection is included in a domain’s cost. Simply head to our Domain Name Search tool, find available domain names, and proceed with the purchase.

How Secure Is Domain Privacy?
Domain privacy is quite secure, as it effectively hides your personal information from the public WHOIS directory. However, it’s essential to choose a reputable registrar and keep your login credentials secure to prevent unauthorized access.

Is Domain Privacy Protection Available for Every Domain?
Domain privacy protection is available for most top-level domains (TLDs), but there may be exceptions based on registry policies. Additionally, certain country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) may have different rules regarding privacy protection.

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