Private WHOIS Registration, ID Protect
- How to Enable Domain Privacy - Learn how to activate Domain Privacy within your Customer Portal.
- WHOIS Information & Domain Privacy - This is an overview of WHOIS and Domain Privacy.
WHOIS Privacy Protection for domains registered with HostGator
All domain owners are required to maintain accurate and valid personal or business contact information in their "WHOIS" data. This information is listed publicly unless you enable WHOIS Privacy Protection.
We offer to protect your personal domain registration information from WHOIS searches. You can enable the Privacy Protection feature on domains registered with HostGator for $14.95 per year, $25.90 for 2 years, or $38.85 for 3 years per domain.
WHOIS Privacy availability
Not all domain extensions (TLDs) are allowed to have private WHOIS. Each .com, .net, etc,. set its own rules regarding this. Most ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) do not actually allow WHOIS protection.
In March 2005, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said that all owners of .us domains would not have the option of keeping their information private and that it must be made public.
You may visit the following pages to see more information about all the registration services we offer for your domain type.
Importance of maintaining correct WHOIS information
Even though WHOIS Privacy hides your name and contact information from the public, it is important that the information listed for the registrant is accurate because it determines who legally and contractually has control of the domain.
For example, if your web designer is creating a website for you, it is very important that the domain is actually in your name and not in the name of the web designer you hired.
Be sure to check and update your WHOIS information to make sure it is up-to-date and accurate.