Every registered domain has a WHOIS record containing the registrant's name, email, phone, and address. Domain privacy, also called WHOIS protection, replaces those details with proxy information so they are not public.
What It Hides
- Your full name
- Your email address
- Your phone number
- Your physical or postal address
In place of your details, the public WHOIS shows generic privacy-service contact information. Your ownership is unchanged; only the public visibility is masked.
Why People Use It
- Reduce spam and unsolicited sales calls.
- Avoid exposing a personal address for a small business run from home.
- Limit data scraping by marketers and bad actors.
Things to Know
| Situation | Effect | |-----------|--------| | Receiving domain emails | Forwarded through the privacy service | | Transferring the domain | Privacy must usually be disabled first | | Legal or registry verification | Real details are still on file |
Privacy does not make you anonymous to the registry or to law enforcement; it only hides details from the casual public WHOIS lookup.
Note on .ke Domains
Not every extension supports the same level of privacy. KENIC and the .ke registry have their own rules, so availability of full WHOIS masking can differ from .com. Check what is offered for your specific extension.
When you plan to transfer a domain, turn privacy off a few days beforehand so the verification email reaches you. For help enabling or disabling privacy, contact NairoHost via the /contact page.