ICANN domain transfer policies have changed as of 1 December 2016. Changes made to domain contact information may result in a 60-day transfer lock.
In this tutorial:
Purchase Privacy Cancel Privacy
Domain Privacy allows you to hide the contact information saved in the Domain that would otherwise be available to the public. The option of making your contact information used to be applied only upon first registering a domain. The latest update to the Account Management Panel has added the ability to add domain privacy to existing domains. The Account Management Panel (AMP) will apply the domain privacy and also automatically bill the account the appropriate amount based on the time period that you have selected. The following article explains how to find and this option within AMP.
Applying Domain Privacy to Existing Domains
- Log into AMP.
- In the main menu, move your mouse over Domains, and click Manage Domains
- You will then be on the Domain Management menu, click the Add Domain Privacy link to the right of the domain name.
- On the Order Services menu, you can view the order summary. When you have completed making sure that the billing information is complete and correct, click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the screen. **Note:Costs for domain privacy will be determined by the calendar year. So, for example, if you purchase domain protection in June, then the price is prorated so that you are only paying for the six months of the year where protection will be active. You will not be paying for the previous six months that have already passed.
At this point the payment will be processed. When it is completed, the domain privacy is also automatically applied. The privacy uses “Domain Admin” or “Domain Administrator” in the names listed for a WHOIS query. Additionally, the contact information given is the contact information of the WPS Hosting Support Center. This information is used in place of the customer contact information.
To see the difference between a domain with domain privacy and one without, please see the table below:
| Data Field | Without Privacy | With Privacy |
|---|---|---|
| Organization Name | John Doe | John Doe |
| Contact Name | John Doe | Domain Administrator |
| Address Line 1 | 123 Any Street | 360 N Pacific Coast Hwy |
| Address Line 2 | Apt 101 | Suite 1055 |
| City | Metropolis | El Segundo |
| Country | United States | United States |
| State | CA | CA |
| Zip | 12345 | 90245 |
| Phone Number | +1.1111234567 | +1.8883214678 |
| Email Address | [email protected] | [email protected] |
When you run a WHOIS in a command line environment or with a website, you will see that the contact information is clearly available. The contact data used when domain privacy is applied is actually the contact information for WPS Hosting. This keeps all of the personal contact information private. As personal contact information is often targeted by marketing firms trying for advertising campaigns, domain privacy was developed in order to hide customer information from would-be spammers, data miners, and hackers.
Remember, the Organization name is the legal owner of the domain. Keeping your name in the slot avoids any confusion over ownership of the domain name. This means by leaving your name in the Organization Name spot, you retain all legal ownership. The Organization Name can be any legal entity, person or business.
How to Cancel Domain Privacy
- Login to AMP.
- In the main menu, move your mouse over the Billing option, and click My Subscriptions.
- Find your domain privacy on the My Subscriptions page, and click the Cancel Domain Privacy link.
- On the Cancel Domain Privacy page, choose an address for your WHOIS information, and click the Submit button. You will then see a message stating “You have canceled your Domain Privacy subscription.”
Congratulations, now you know how to cancel Domain Privacy from AMP!
To learn how to cancel your hosting account please check out How Do I Cancel My Hosting Account?
