Exposed personal data when registering a domain

[Yogi62]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to register a .co.uk domain name as an individual, but noticed that nominet appears to make the required personal data available to all and sundry via the whois database? As an individual if I filled in the required info 'honestly' it would reveal my home address, telephone number and email? Am I wrong - or is there someway to get around this as I don't want my personal details available for abuse?

thanks in anticipation.

[gramski]

Many domain name registers offer private domain name registration. For an additional fee they will register the name with themselves as a proxy registrant. Do a google search on private domain registration. I'm not sure if the domain host you are looking at does private registration but plenty of others do.

[ritch_b]

If the .UK domain is declared as being registered for an individual, Nominet will not display your personal details on the WHOIS lookup.

Your name will still be visible - you're the Registrant, after all! - but the rest of your information will be replaced by "The Registrant is an Individual who has elected to have their address omitted from the Whois database".

You may need to make a point of telling whoever you register the domain with that you're an individual, not a business. Even if the domain were classed as being registered to a business though, you should be able to change this using Nominet's 'Registrants Online' system, so you shouldn't need to worry.

R.

[ritch_b]

Since I forgot my manners on my last post - welcome to WebmasterWorld! :)

R.

[Yogi62]

Thanks for the welcome and quick feedback. I checked the nominet online system and it seems I can resolve the matter that way.

regards

[mrfragger]

just use godaddy ...All my domains are bogus WHOIS. If law enforcement need to contact me if I did something illegal then they just contact godaddy who has my credit card info...big deal.

[ritch_b]

Hi MrFragger.

.UK domains are policed in a substantially heavier fashion than .COM, .NET and the like, so it's not necessarily just a case of entering false information.

False info for a .COM, on the whole, won't cause any problems. On a .UK domain though, you as the Registrant run the risk of losing your domain. The tag holder who administers the domain runs the theoretical risk of having their Nominet membership suspended - Nominet being the independent body that issues .UK domains - apologies if you're already aware of that; it's a key difference between .UK and general domains though!

R.

[Dan_Norder]

Actually, people can and have lost their .com domains for putting false registration info into whois.

It's not policed in any way other than random rare lookups and yearly reminders to the email on record to make sure the info is accurate, but someone else who wants a name can find incorrect info and report you, and if you can't be reached to fix it, the name gets dropped.

[gergev]

godaddy costs $6.95 (at the moment - a sale) for registering a .com domain. Namecheap is $8.95 for a domain.
But godaddy charges $9+ for whois masking. 'Whois Guard' w/ namecheap is $4.88 per domain on a 2-for-1 deal.

I would like to know, short of falsifying my information, is there anything cheaper for a domain including keeping my personal info, even just my name, out of the public whois?

edit: found it on another thread here
[registerfly.com...]
is cheaper overall than namecheap

[DaveAtIFG]

You could use a DBA (Doing Business As) for a name and a PO Box for your address. As long as you pick up your mail occasionally... ;)