Private Domain Registration

Private registration for a domain name allows you to remain anonymous and helps to increase the privacy and security of your website. Whenever you purchase a standard domain name, your registrar is required to pass on your personal information to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). This is then associated with your domain and registered within the WHOIS database. The personal information contained within the WHOIS database – including name, postal address, email address and phone number – is then available to members of the general public.

However, a private domain gives you the benefit of removing your personal details from the WHOIS database and replacing them with those of the registrar. In essence, it works in the same way as removing your telephone number from any publicly available listings – allowing you to keep your contact details out of the hands of strangers. In this case, IONOS replaces your registrant details, administrative contact details, and technical contact details with our own. This anonymity is particularly important to ward off threats to online security. A private domain gives you the peace of mind to continue operating online without sharing personal information with would-be hackers or other would-be threats.

A private registration domain is most certainly worth it if you wish to increase anonymity on the web and operate a website with an extra layer of security. Having the option of hiding your personal contact details will help you to concentrate on building your business without having to deal with mountains of spam email or other unsolicited contact. Online threats may also be reduced as hackers will not be able to access your personal details.

A private domain is also worth it if you currently use one of the supported TLDs which are: .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .mobi, .name, .cc, .tv, .london and .wales. If your website is already associated with one of these domains, then transferring to a private domain registration on renewal is simple. All you need to do is access the IONOS Control Panel and click the 'manage domains' tab. From here you can follow the 'edit domain settings' link and proceed to update your settings. Once you have selected the 'private' option, please wait around 24 hours until WHOIS updates the information in its database.

When you sign up for a domain with private registration, IONOS replaces the email address visible within the WHOIS database with a generic proxy address. Any emails sent to this address can be forwarded to your choice of email account. IONOS offers free email accounts as standard with our hosting packages, meaning you can easily create a private email address that also allows people to contact you through WHOIS. However, you have full control over the email you receive and our powerful spam filters help to keep out unsolicited mail.

Changing the email address that your private domain forwards mail to is simple with the IONOS Control Panel. All you need to do is log in and enter the email address you wish to use. You may even use a separate email address specifically for this purpose to further cut down security risks. However you decide to set up your email address, IONOS will help you to stay safe and secure as you build your website.