What is WHOIS?

When you register a domain name, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires your domain name registrar to submit your personal contact information to the WHOIS database. Once your listing appears in this online domain WHOIS directory, it is publicly available to anyone who chooses to check domain names using the WHOIS search tool.

There are a variety of third parties who may check domain names in the WHOIS check database, including:

• Individuals check domain names for expiration dates
• Registrars check domain names when transferring ownership
• Authorities check domain names when investigating criminal activity

Web.com complies with the WHOIS database requirements set forth by ICANN. In an effort to ensure that customers feel comfortable with the visibility of their personal information, Web.com offers two options for your WHOIS database listing.

Public WHOIS Database Listing

If you're comfortable with having your information available to the public, Web.com will submit a public listing to the WHOIS lookup database. This listing will include your name, address, phone number, email address and domain name expiration date. Your website hosting IP address and host name will also be listed.

Private WHOIS Database Listing

Having your personal information made available to the public will increase your risk of becoming a victim of hackers, spammers and even data miners. To keep your contact information out of the hands of those who may use it maliciously, Web.com offers private domain name registration. For a small monthly fee, we'll act as your proxy — which means that anyone who does a WHOIS lookup for your domain name information will find our contact information, not yours.

Web.com believes that its customers should ultimately decide how their contact information will be listed in the WHOIS database. When you're ready to register a domain name, consider your WHOIS options before your personal information becomes available to the public.