Kayla

Domain Whois Privacy : Know Your Options
Tonight PacificaMark made this post on DSLR,

Are there any ICANN or other restrictions on using P.O. boxes for our domain contact info? I’d prefer not to have to list my true home address and I don’t want to pay for domainsbyproxy.com any more since I own so many domain names now. I realize putting in a dummy address can lead to your domains being taken away, I’m just wondering how the powers that be feel about a P.O. box.

This is something I do not think of too often. I suppose it’s because we don’t have many complaints about our domain registrations.

On a few occasions we’ve had Enom, our registrar, contact our company about domains that had completely bogus information (105 Imaginary Drive), but to my knowledge we have thousands of domains registered with P.O. boxes, and thousands more with our own company information (acting like a proxy of sorts for our customers). No complaints yet. I really do not think users with personal sites should have to post their absolute physical location on their Whois. Now if you are a business, you’ve likely went through the hoops already of becoming accredited in your community, and P.O. boxes are normally never allowed when you are creating legal documents. So in the online world, a business should always have their real address on their Whois, why not?



As for personal sites though, I don’t think so. Your email address should always be correct of course because of these three things:

1) So that you can successfully transfer your domain from registrar to registrar,
2) Be able to make and confirm any changes to your domain, and
3) Have a correct address if your web host or outside party needs to contact you urgently (in as many ways possible) about an attack on your site

You also have an option of getting a UPS mailbox rather than a spot at your local post office. It seems people really love the service of UPS better than the USPS anyway, plus it comes with a physical address. : )


From the UPS website:

Discover the benefits of mailbox services at The UPS Store:
A real street address, not a P.O. Box
A street address can provide a professional image for your business.
Secure, 24-hour access
Pick up your mail when it’s convenient for you.
Your mail and packages stay-safe and confidential.
Package notification
We’ll let you know when your packages arrive.
Full-service mail and package receiving
We accept packages from all carriers, so you’ll never miss a delivery.
Mail holding and forwarding
We’ll hold your packages in a secure location for pick-up at your convenience or forward them to you, wherever you are.

Or if you want to go the easy way, we do have ID Protect Service (at SurpassDomains.com) for a $20 fee (yearly, with each registration renewal).