i do. i use https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ as their promise is 'by subpoena only' on personal info.
its actually a smaller outfit run by a bunch of linux geeks.. you pay for what you actually use. been my goto for more than 15 years
Huh, I tried to use their price estimator for my use case but it comes out the same for cloudflare pages + function and their goodies (D1, R2, DO, etc.) usage (around $5). But it is neat for in-between usage that is smaller than what cloudflare offers.
oh, i dont use them to host anything except DNS. OP asked about registrars.
The DNS is cheap. Something like a penny a day for privacy. I typically paid like $50 every 2-3 years for both renewal and DNS on a couple domains.
Was kind of a PITA to be honest as I remember their login process was a little weird. I eventually moved on when they were slow to adopt some of the newer TLDs.
If you care about keeping your domain enough that you don't want there to be an excuse for someone to take it from you, then you use your real info, and choose a registrar that only exposes a proxy contact in your WHOIS entry.
If you don't care about losing your domain, then you can use fake contact info.
.ch domains come with domain privacy by default. Since whois entries don't include personal information. Also whois request are only doable through the official registry and only reveal the registrar and technical information and not personal ones.
There are registrars that allow the info to be redacted from public WHOIS.
Unless the registrar accepts cryptocurrencies as a payment, there's no anonymous way to set up a domain. Even if you fill fake information, you'd still need to use a credit card or bank account that'll disclose personal info (such as full name, billing address, etc).
Well probably some registrars don't give the data from payments away as much. Though on the other hand giving fake info will make you look more unique and trackable.
Though on the other hand giving fake info will make you look more unique and trackable.
will it if it's not obvious? how?
It will because the payment reveals your real info if it's not in cash or cryptocurrency.
Though on the other hand giving fake info will make you look more unique and trackable.
will it if it's not obvious? how?
Yeah, but quite a few of them DO accept crypto - then it's fine I guess?
The registrar owns the domain then, not you. I made a root comment about Njalla which offers this service.
edit: Well you could use fake data. Still risk losing claim to it. I tried doing this with name cheap and they figured it out somehow that the info I gave wasn't real. Was years ago so I don't remember what I put in. My guess is it was one of those soft credit lookups (where did you live between X and Y?). Could also be misremembering.
No, I mean not Njalla-like services, but normal registrars like Porkbun.
Fair point about credit lookups... I wonder if you could use a real person's info like this.
Yes, don't want my domain to be removed/suspended.
The info is hidden from the public since every registrar should include domain privacy for free.
Can also use something like Njalla where they register and hold the domain for you and give you access to it.
A subpoena can still reveal the owner's information to the world. Even if it's a frivolous lawsuit that ends up getting tossed.
I mean it all depends on why you want to hide it. I don't care about subpoenas. I care about spammers. First time I signed up for a domain i didn't realize you went on a public list, and it reached the point where I was getting a phone call every 20 mins or so.
This depends. A subpoena is only binding if the registrar is in a country that is legally liable. Some privacy focused registrars purposely locate themselves in countries that keep them legally insulated.
One of the pirate bay founders created https://njal.la/#home but with the caveat:
For instance, when you register a domain name in our system, we can register with our own data. We will be the actual registrant of the domain -- it's not an ownership by proxy as found with all other providers. However, you will still have the full control over the domain name. You can either use our information (and our nameservers) or you can go with your custom data. And you can move at any time. Simple, flexible.
I believe it is required (ICANN?) to have a real entity attached to every domain, even with a proxy for the public whois. They simply offer to be that identity to avoid giving any identifying information, but they will have all claim on it if it came to a legal dispute.
My domain is my name so I am not too worried about that, but for the address I use a PO Box and the domain registrars domain privacy service to hide the details.
Seeing as my homelab domain is literally {first name}{last name}.{country I live in} I didn't really care :P
Lol thats just doxing your self at that point😅
To maintain my privacy I proxy it though :)
To be fair for now it's only used to access some admin portals for services I got running (Arr stack, syncthing, etc). The main domain isn't even mapped (so gives 404), though at some point that might become a portfolio website.
I'd give fake information whenever possible.
Only if it’s 25 years ago. Today? Never.
Strong no.
I use the name Johnny Incognito on everything I register, has not been a problem with namecheap. If you want to follow the rules then you should use your real name but its not like they are gonna ask to see ID or care at all unless you have something else going on to draw attention to it.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
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much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)