I was recently very surprised to discover that my address and phone number were available via the WHOIS directory for domain names. I was clued in (hit over the head) first by an author who sent me a book that he wanted me to review and then by a phone call from another company that wanted me to try out and review their service. After doing a quick search I discovered that all my info was just there for the taking:
Did you know that for each domain name you register, anyone – anywhere, anytime – can find out your name, home address, phone number and mail address?
The law requires that the personal information you provide with every domain you register be made public in the “WHOIS” database. Your identity becomes instantly available – and vulnerable – to spammers, scammers, prying eyes and worse.
Thankfully there are services, for about $9/year, that allow you to hide your real contact information. I signed up for Domains by Proxy at my registrar, and Network Solutions has a similar service. (Here’s an example which will show you the differences in public and private listings.) If you don’t want people to be able to hunt you down via your blog I highly suggest that you sign up for one of these services.
Haha. Welcome to 2004 Mike 🙂
Big Brother is Watching!
More like, welcome to 1998. The domain registrar never verifies your physical address or phone number. 123 Main St. works well enough.
As long as you pay up, they could care less if you tell them you live in Narnia.
Gax is right. I’ve been using made up names and addresses for my WHOIS information for years, even on my personally named domain. The kicker for me was when someone who read my site actually came to visit me out of the blue. Talk about an eye-opener.