domain names - how to protect your details?

The Guvnor

I dislike the amount of personal information that can be freely obtained via the whois database.

I therefore try to limit the amount of information I put in and sometimes with the likes of .eu domain names they do not get accepted.

Is there a sensible, cost effective method of protecting ones privacy whilst still retaining full control? I am aware of some anonymous services which exist but many are US based.

On the .eu domain names. I tried to register two over the xmas period with easily.co.uk.

Now I receive within a day an email from easily.co.uk telling me the registration failed due to lack of information and money has been refunded.

I then receive another email about 1 day after the easily email from netnames, telling me:

[FONT=&quot]_____________________________________________________
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hi,[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Registrant First and Last name is required for this type of order. Please supply this information by close of business Monday 4th January or order will be cancelled and payment refunded to your account.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kind Regards,
_____________________________________________________

My initial thought was the netnames email is a phishing email - just chancing their luck trying to get me to reregister but with them?

Do you guys have any views on who the best registrar is, one who can offer you the best selection of names to purchase etc. Some people have suggested godaddy.com?

[/FONT]

Sposs

All domain providers not just US ones can provide you with domain protection services which ensure your personal details don't show up on a whois search , contact whoever your domain is registered with and they'll sort this out for you.

The Guvnor

Thanks Sposs.

none

EURid does NOT show personal details, except for registrant's email. No name or address are shown in their DB for private users, only for companies. You do have to provide your name to the registrar, some accept fakes though.

The Guvnor

Thanks None. The EURid is specifically for .eu domains.

I have never considered the option of made up names because I believe I read somewhere that this can/could cause ownership issues later on.

Thanks mate!

mneylon

The amount of data displayed varies

.tel - private individual can opt out of whois
.co.uk - same
.eu - port 43 whois only shows nameservers. You need to go to a Eurid's whois site to get more detail. Personal registrations only show the email
.be - same as .eu
.ie - only the name displayed

The Guvnor

Thanks BK.

Losing me a little with the port 43 tech speak!:)

mneylon

The Guvnor wrote: »

Thanks BK.

Losing me a little with the port 43 tech speak!:)

Sorry

The port 43 whois is important, as it's how other websites are able to scrap the data ie. whois check / lookup sites use it, so if it's not available that way, they can't show it

The Guvnor

Thanks BK,

I checked for example bodybuilding.eu and on the eurid.eu I could see all the relevant info but on easily.co.uk nothing.

On another level is a .eu domain that relevant? I am purely looking at it as a 4 letter acronym is available as a .eu where as in .com, .net or anyother tld it is not.

mneylon

The Guvnor wrote: »

I checked for example bodybuilding.eu and on the eurid.eu I could see all the relevant info but on easily.co.uk nothing.

They wouldn't be able to show the data, as they don't have access to it

The Guvnor wrote: »

On another level is a .eu domain that relevant? I am purely looking at it as a 4 letter acronym is available as a .eu where as in .com, .net or anyother tld it is not.

The .eu domain is very popular in a lot of former Soviet Union countries. It hasn't been as popular in Ireland and the UK, but ultimately it's what you do with the domain ie. the content itself, that really wins out.

none

Blacknight wrote: »

The .eu domain is very popular in a lot of former Soviet Union countries.

I bet you meant Soviet Bloc rather than Soviet Union Ireland alone eclipses all former members of the Soviet Union by registrations. Even in the Soviet Bloc only Poland and Czech Republic got more .eu domains than Ireland which is, as you rightly said, not very keen on this extension