Would you list your home address and phone number on your website? Of course, you wouldn’t. But what about the domain you’re currently using for your business? Are you sure your publicly available Whois data will never be used by a third party to compromise your reputation, steal your identity, or swindle you out of your hard-earned money. If your answer is ‘No,’ it’s about time you considered purchasing a domain privacy protection plan and ensured your sensitive information is safe and intact.
Details About Maintain Your Domain Privacy?
1. A Few Words About Privacy
So, you’ve found the ideal domain name either yourself or with the help of a dedicated domain name generator, verified that it’s available using a domain checker, and now you’re ready to claim it. When you register your new domain, you’ll have the option to add privacy protection to block your personal data from the public.
At this point, a lot of entrepreneurs find themselves wondering if this feature is really that necessary. After all, you may think that your address and phone number aren’t that secret and critical for maintaining your online safety. But as practice has shown, they are.
Privacy is a big deal these days. But that’s exactly what you’re doing if you fail to enable the contact privacy feature on your domain name’s Whois record. This record tells the world that you’re the owner of your domain name, as well as other technical details that aren’t generally of interest to regular users.
The important thing to know is that these records do contain such sensitive information as your street address, email address, and phone number. For big and established companies, having that information online might be a normal part of doing business. But if you’re running your small business from home, chances are you don’t want that information so exposed.
It means there is a connection between the work you do, family photos you share online, opinions you normally express on social media and your home address and phone number. In short, it may become your privacy nightmare. But there’s an easy way Out.
2. How To Ensure Your Privacy
Protecting the information your domain contains is easier than you might think. All you have to do is enable the contact privacy feature in your service provider’s control panel. Once you do that, your personal details will be hidden from the prying eyes of the rest of the Internet.
Hiding your information is also a great way to avoid email spam, which not only annoys but also poses a real threat to business owners. Since Whois records contain email addresses, spammers are provided with an opportunity to routinely grab them to send unsolicited email and phishing attacks.
3. Final Thoughts
It goes without saying that any business wants to be as accessible as possible, especially now that customers tend to search out reliable companies online.
But your Whois record cannot be considered a reliable promotional vehicle. Credible business prospects will much more easily find your contact information on your company website or any other directories you can choose to take part in.
So, to sum up, securing your personal information online isn’t complicated at all. And contact privacy offers important privacy controls for both individual domain holders and businesses. If you want to keep your life actually private, don’t hesitate to enable it on your domain name today.
4. Bonus Tips: Best Domain Name Security Practices
To ensure you’re getting the safest domain possible, keep in mind some easy yet important tips.
First, you want to refrain from registering your new domain under your name or your partner’s name. Instead, tie it to your corporate entity’s name. This way, you’ll reduce the risk of losing it if circumstances change.
It’s also critical that you do some homework before choosing your domain name registrar. Do thorough research and familiarize yourself with other users’ reviews to choose a truly reliable and trustworthy registrar.
Once you complete your registration process, make sure to lock your domain name so that it’s not transferred to other users after a certain time. Also, you want to register your domain for as long as possible and renew your name regularly.
Last but not least, double-check your current password is strong enough to withstand potential tampering attempts. It’s a good rule of thumb to have figures, symbols, and randomly selected upper- and lowercase letters in your password. Thus, you’ll be able to keep your data secured.
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