The WHOIS database is a collection of information that registrars publish every time someone buys or registers a domain. The information includes the name, email address, among other details of the person. This information is used much like the information in a traditional phonebook, to contact you. Therefore, it is possible that a lot of complications can arise from the availability of this information to the public.
Fortunately, many domain registrars understand this and now offer a privacy package that you can buy whenever you are registering a domain name. Doing this removes your personal information from being publicly available and enhances your security. Not everyone understands the importance of keeping this information private. Doing this can have many untold advantages. For those who understand, the extra yearly fee is well worth having the peace of mind in knowing their private information is not publicly available.
Why use Privacy Control on your Domains ?
Below we discuss 7 reasons why making use of a privacy package on your domain is important, but it will greatly depend on what you want to do with your website.
1. It reduces spam
Having your personal information publicly available via the WHOIS database opens you up to spam. This information could be used by marketers or any other party that is into sending emails to masses. Some will even use this information to create mailing lists that they sell for profit subjecting you to uncalled-for email.
Another form of spam could be in form of web designers or business owners who want to buy your domain. Fake alerts, registration scams, and more could also be part of this list.
2. It reduces identity theft
Not all identity thieves will want to steal your credit card information. Others will just want your details so that they can hack into your site, create accounts using your credentials, or spread chaos. Protecting your domain greatly reduces the chance of this happening.
3. Professional information vs. Personal views
Using domain privacy is a great way of separating your personal and professional lives. A good example is a situation where you say something controversial about someone or something. Without WHOIS privacy, your website could suffer because your domain could be linked back to you and people would begin boycotting your websites. This would definitely result in less traffic to your sites.
4. Gives you control over your contact information
Using privacy settings on your domain gives you the ability to choose contact information that visitors can or should use. They will have to use the contact information you provide on your domain instead of using your private information. Doing this gives you control over the information your business website uses.
5. It hides your physical address
The internet is full of unfriendly people. You may post something on your website that could anger extremists causing you to be a target. While this is an extreme case scenario, it gives a good example of how easily your physical address can be easily accessible. Using WHOIS privacy settings would protect you from this happening.
6. It hides website ownership
There are many cases where the registered person is not tied to the company owning the website in any way. It is common practice that web designers and hosting providers can register a domain for a company or third party. This makes it necessary to have WHOIS privacy because these people would not want their private information available online or linked to the site. Doing this would make the business’ information available instead of the designer’s.
7. It is not expensive
Looking at the big picture, keeping your private information out of the public domain is not expensive. Many registrars will also charge less than $10 for this service, which is less than $1 every month. Considering you will be protected from scammers, spam, identity theft and more, this amount is paltry. The domain privacy registrar that we suggest to you is GoDaddy, with only $1.00/year per domain.
The internet is growing each day. This means that more and more people are accessing websites, and therefore, the risks of exposing private information is growing. While your website may appear too small to attract any attention, it could only be a matter of time before your inbox is flooded with spam. You should, therefore, take necessary precaution now and not assume you are too small to be noticed.
