A domain name is basically your address name on the web, or alternatively said the URL that people type in the browser to access your website. An example would be the domain name for our site is Hostlehend . Having a custom domain name gives your site the desired professional look, while also improving your brand identity, and helping visitors find you on the Internet.

Even if you do not have a website, it is not a bad idea to register your branded domain name when you are certain about it, before someone else beats you to the punch.

Domain names and websites are closely related but require separate services. A domain is used by Internet users to access your website. Our domain name, for example, is Hostlegend . Web hosting, on the other hand, is what is needed to make your website appear online. Behind every domain, there is a web hosting service address where the files that compose your website are being stored.

Anyone that registers a domain name is required by the domain name regulator ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) to create a public record of domain ownership and the personal contact information of the Registrant in the Whois Search Directory. The WHOIS listing is a database of all registered domains. It’s searchable and available to everyone on the Internet. Without domain privacy (also referred to as WHOIS privacy protection), your entire contact information (address, phone number, name, etc.) is publicly available. Additionally, your domain name expirations, renewal and other essential data used for legal purposes will be shown. This means that hackers, telemarketers, and spammers will be able to access the addresses and phone numbers of any domain registrant.

Domain ID protection (aka Whois privacy) puts your personal data with that of your official domain registry under a cloak of invisibility and hides it from the Whois database, which is globally accessible, masking it with generic data.

This service masks some of your personal details through the use of automated access points. The GDPR Whois protection is what limits a potential spammer if they want to access your first or last name, email information, and phone number by using automated measures (a.k.a. Port 43 Access).

For an existing domain name, if any one of the Registrant, Admin, Tech and Billing contacts are confirmed as being from the EU, we would mask the WHOIS output. The masking is done using placeholder details in substitution of users’ personal info.

Customers from all European Economic Area (EEA) countries get to choose whether to enable or disable their GDPR Protection. The GDPR Protection is what masks a customer’s WHOIS information to comply with the GDPR requirements, from their Client Area. Nevertheless, GDPR Protection will be enabled by default for all EEA customers.

Keep note that some TLD registries often display customer WHOIS details. It’s also important to know that the GDPR Protection will not be available for some new and existing TLD registrations. As of May 17, 2017, these TLDs are : .AU, .BR, .CA, .CN (2nd and 3rd level), .DE (2nd and 3rd level), .EC (2nd and 3rd level), .EU, .RU (2nd and 3rd level), .UK (2nd and 3rd level), .US, .ECO, .JOBS, .NGO/.ONG, .NYC and .TEL.