Anybody know exactly how public the info on a domain name is?

[jaderabbit]

I'm considering starting a site of my own. In fact, I started to fill out the contact info at a domain service. Then I backed out when it started asking for contact info. I don't have an office; I don't even have a P.O. box. If I register my home office, then will my home address be out there for anybody to find?

GoDaddy has some info about "private

Comments

"We'll look like Arwen and Galadriel, you said"

[just_the_ash]

Why don't you register it as you, but use MY home address? Seriously, who would come looking for you here? Saves renting a post box, ¿que no?

Re: "We'll look like Arwen and Galadriel, you said"

[jaderabbit]

Hmm. That's an interesting thought and a very kind offer. I'll have to think about that--make sure it would be legal, etc.

Sweety did the card this year. Hope you enjoyed it.

[auros]

Registration info is pretty public; it shows up in the WhoIs database.

If you plan to have your site hosted by an ISP (e.g. LMi.Net in Berkeley (who I use for auros.org), you can have them register it for you, providing as contact info, the contacts at the office. I don't know whether all ISPs provide such service, but probably a lot of them do.

[jaderabbit]

Yeah, that's what I thought re: Whois. Is this link the sort of thing you're talking about?

http://help.godaddy.com/article/421

If this will protect my home address, I might as well just go for it.

[auros]

Yeah. I actually just checked, and apparently the private-registration option with LMi has a third-party proxy as well; I had thought they just put LMi's info in, but apparently the registration turns up as a company called "Discreet Domains" in Portugal. I'm debating whether to have them change that; it seems a bit excessive...