What is WHOIS?
When you register a domain name, you must provide contact information, including things like:
Your name
Email address
Phone number
Mailing address
This information is logged in a global database called WHOIS (or RDAP) that is publicly searchable online. Anyone, including spammers, marketers, or scammers, can look this up.
Why is This a Concern?
Without privacy protection, your WHOIS contact details are visible to the public. That opens the door to:
Spam emails and calls from marketers and domain brokers
Targeted scams that use your contact information
Data harvesting for mailing lists or identity abuse
Potential domain hijacking attempts (where someone leverages your public info to try to take over the domain)
Even though someone can't transfer your domain without approval and an EPP code, having your info public still makes your business and identity easier to target.
What is Domain Privacy (WHOIS Privacy)?
Domain Privacy Protection (often called WHOIS Privacy or Private Registration) is an optional service offered by registrars like Hostek that hides your real contact information from public WHOIS searches.
Instead of seeing your name, phone, and address in a WHOIS lookup, people see generic contact details provided by the privacy service (often Hostek's information or a proxy service).
What Stays Private?
Typically, domain privacy hides:
Your personal name
Your email address
Your phone number
Your mailing address
In the public WHOIS directory, this gets replaced with generic information, so your personal details aren't shown to strangers.
Important Note
Even with privacy enabled, domain registries and authorized parties (like law enforcement or ICANN requests) may still access your real contact information behind the scene. Privacy stops public exposure, but it doesn't erase your legal data footprint.
Who Needs Domain Privacy?
Domain privacy is especially helpful if you:
Want to protect your personal information from being public
Don't want spam or scam contacts from WHOIS data
Are running a personal website, blog, or a business site
Prefer not to share your address and phone publicly
Some domain owners forego privacy when they want to be easily found (for example, in public business listings), but most private individuals and small businesses choose privacy for peace of mind.
How Domain Privacy Works (Quick Summary)
You register a domain and provide your contact info
That info would normally be published publicly
When you enable privacy, the registrar shows proxy contact details instead of yours
People can still reach you because the privacy service forwards messages without exposing your real contact data
How to Update Your WHOIS Contact Info
If you want your domain's contact information updated or corrected:
Log in to your billing control panel
Go to Domains → My Domains
Select the domain you want to manage
Click Contact Information
Update the Registrant, Admin, and Billing contact details
Save changes and allow some time for global propagation
Accurate WHOIS contact info is required by ICANN, and keeping it correct helps prevent problems such as suspension due to outdated or invalid data.
How to Order Domain Privacy (ID Protection)
Log in to your billing control panel
Navigate to Domains → My Domains
Choose the domain you want to protect
Go to Addons for that domain
Find ID Protection (WHOIS Privacy) and click Buy Now
Complete the purchase
The propagation of your updated WHOIS records is usually applied within a few hours, but may take up to 24 hours.
Note: Some domain extensions may not support WHOIS privacy due to registry rules.
Conclusion
Domain WHOIS contact information is required, public, and useful. But it can also expose you to unwanted attention if left unprotected. Privacy protection gives you a layer of security and peace of mind without affecting your ownership rights.
Whenever you register or renew a domain, it's worth considering privacy protection—especially in a world where spam, phishing, and data harvesting are common.