With a standard site registration, the site owner’s name, address, phone number and other details are stored in and available through the WhoIs database. But some webmasters prefer not to make this information publicly available for a variety of reasons.
Several companies, such as GoDaddy, IDdp.net and Network Solutions, have met the demand for anonymous registration by charging a premium to register domains on their clients’ behalf. The implicit promise is that they will keep the clients private information safe from prying eyes and amateur Internet sleuths.
But a handful of customers using GoDaddy’s Domains by Proxy service have complained to News.com that GoDaddy failed to protect the secrecy of their information.
Alan Cordle registered his site anonymously because he wanted to post critical commentary without the fear of retribution. But when GoDaddy received angry phone calls from those he criticized, he says, the company cancelled his Domains by Proxy account and revealed his identity.
“I thought they would completely protect my privacy,” Cordle said. “That’s the whole purpose of [Domains by Proxy]. They don’t do anything else but purport to protect domain privacy.”
GoDaddy, however, is quick to point out that its Domains by Proxy service does not guarantee privacy.
While the Domains by Proxy service agreement says GoDaddy usually will not release information unless required to do so by law, the company reserves the right to reveal a customer’s identity at any time.
It’s a lesson as another site owner, David Payer, learned the hard way. In Payer’s case, GoDaddy gave his information out over the phone to a site visitor who was stymied by a WhoIs search.
“They missed the boat on this one,” Payer said. “They simply did it worng.”