On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented, meaning that there are stronger rules on data protection. Not only did this affect all websites who collect data from their visitors, but ultimately changed the way that public information is handled around domain names.
What does GDPR Mean for You?
Before GDPR any website domain that didn’t have domain privacy enabled would have their contact information published on the public WHOIS website for anyone to find.
This meant that solicitors, and anyone who wanted, could see your name, address, email address, and phone number. Now, this information is left blank and the only information showing on the public WHOIS website is the state of registration along with information such as date of registration and renewal.
With all personal information removed, it brings up a very interesting question: Do you still need domain privacy? At first thought, it appears that you would not, but before we jump to that conclusion, lets look at the whole picture.
Even though the WHOIS information isn’t publicly listed, some registrars have ‘trusted’ vendors who have access to personal data associated with your domain. What does this mean? This basically means that even though your name, address, phone number, etc. isn’t listed publicly online, there is a chance that it will be picked up by a vendor and later used to solicit products and services to you.
Should I Get Domain Privacy?
Even though your information isn’t listed on a public website, it’s still available for certain vendors to take and use to solicit to you. So do you need to get domain privacy?
The choice is really up to you. In our opinion, unless you have an absolute privacy concern, without domain privacy, you shouldn’t get flooded with emails and phone calls.
So, to answer the question: no, we don’t think domain privacy is for everyone. For some, this might be a shock to hear from a web hosting/domain registrar, but as a company that truly cares about our customers, we want you to be fully informed and not spend money on things you don’t need.
If you prefer to keep all of your information private, you can certainly add domain privacy to your domain registration inside of AMP.
Have questions? Leave us a comment below and we’ll get back with you!
