What is WHOIS?
WHOIS is a public database that stores registration details for every domain name — including the owner's name, email address, phone number, and postal address. Anyone can look up this information for any domain in seconds.
Why This is a Problem
When your personal details are in WHOIS:
- **Spam**: Your email gets harvested by bots and you receive hundreds of spam emails
- **Cold calls**: Your phone number is sold to marketing lists
- **Social engineering**: Attackers use your details to impersonate you or guess security questions
- **Physical security**: Your postal address is publicly accessible
What is WHOIS Privacy / Domain Privacy?
WHOIS privacy (also called domain privacy protection or WHOIS masking) replaces your personal details in the public WHOIS database with the registrar's details. Your domain still belongs to you — only the public listing changes.
Instead of showing:
```
Name: Rahul Sharma
Email: rahul@mybusiness.com
Phone: +91 98765 43210
Address: 12 MG Road, Bengaluru
```
It shows:
```
Name: Privacy Protected
Email: proxy@privacyservice.com
Phone: Redacted for privacy
Address: Privacy Service, Registrar HQ
```
How to Enable WHOIS Privacy on webzworld
1. Log in to your **webzworld client portal**
2. Go to **Domains → My Domains**
3. Click on the domain you want to protect
4. Look for **ID Protection** or **WHOIS Privacy**
5. Toggle it **On**
webzworld includes **free WHOIS privacy** on all domain registrations. There is no extra charge.
Does WHOIS Privacy Affect My Domain?
No. Enabling WHOIS privacy does **not** affect:
- Your website loading and performance
- Your email delivery
- DNS settings
- Domain renewal or transfers
The only change is what the public sees in WHOIS lookups.
Limitations
WHOIS privacy is not available for some country-code TLDs (ccTLDs). Specifically:
- **.in** and **.co.in** — WHOIS privacy is not available by ICANN policy for Indian TLDs
- **.uk** — Limited privacy available
- **.de**, **.eu** — GDPR provides natural privacy protection
For .com, .net, .org, .io, and most global TLDs, privacy is available and recommended.
Contact webzworld support to enable WHOIS privacy on your eligible domains.