Domain registration and privacy

[SuperSomething]

Sup dudes

I'm looking at registering a domain and taking out a hosting plan with Cybersmart, but I have a query regarding privacy and the personal details that are reflected in a whois lookup. In my correspondence with Cybersmart, I was informed that to register a co.za domain, having these details reflected on lookups is mandatory. Is this practice common only for co.za domains? I remember registering a .com with godaddy a couple of years back and for $2 more, they were offering a "cloaked" domain - no personal details reflected in lookups.

The reason for my tinfoil-hat paranoia is that I'm working in a high school environment where kids will be accessing the site, and I don't want the more tech-savvy kids (or worse, their parents) getting hold of my home number and address. Registering in the school's name is not an option. What are my remaining options here, other than registering a PO Box.

 

[ambo]

Someone must take responsibility and ownership of the domain. This is the purpose of the details that are collected.

You may request that your ISP puts their details in but then you will have no leg to stand on in a domain dispute and they will essentially own your domain.

Why is it such a problem for the domain to be registered under the school's contact details? Are you doing something that they would not agree with?

 

[SuperSomething]

Someone must take responsibility and ownership of the domain. This is the purpose of the details that are collected.

You may request that your ISP puts their details in but then you will have no leg to stand on in a domain dispute and they will essentially own your domain.

I understand completely - I remember reading the fineprint when I used godaddy's cloaking option but if push comes to shove, I'm not particularly concerned about not being the bona-fide owner of the domain.

Why is it such a problem for the domain to be registered under the school's contact details? Are you doing something that they would not agree with?

Lol, not at all. I'm setting up a pretty simple space for kids to download tutorials and presentations for revision from home but this will only utilise a small fraction of the site. There will be separate subdomains for my own projects and friends' photography blogs which is why I don't want my employer in charge of my domain

Dammit, looks like I'm going to have to get that PO Box asap since I'm pretty set on getting a co.za domain.

 

[diabolus]

Sup dudes

I'm looking at registering a domain and taking out a hosting plan with Cybersmart, but I have a query regarding privacy and the personal details that are reflected in a whois lookup. In my correspondence with Cybersmart, I was informed that to register a co.za domain, having these details reflected on lookups is mandatory. Is this practice common only for co.za domains? I remember registering a .com with godaddy a couple of years back and for $2 more, they were offering a "cloaked" domain - no personal details reflected in lookups.

The reason for my tinfoil-hat paranoia is that I'm working in a high school environment where kids will be accessing the site, and I don't want the more tech-savvy kids (or worse, their parents) getting hold of my home number and address. Registering in the school's name is not an option. What are my remaining options here, other than registering a PO Box.

Yea, internationally you can get it "cloaked" , another reason for this is to prevent spam. I'm not sure if it's a .CO.ZA problem, or with whom you register your domain through....

I don't pay extra for this privacy feature, but i think it's probably built into the whole hosting service anyhow. It is simply how the original hosting company registered the domain.
I have a .COM domain [i'm not "contactprivacy" , that's just the privacy thing] , this is my whois :

Whois Record

Registrant:
Contactprivacy.com
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA

Domain name: [xxx].COM

Administrative Contact:
contactprivacy.com,
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457
Technical Contact:
contactprivacy.com,
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457

I get mails from the domain registration authority every once in awhile to confirm my details and they then send me the complete whois entry, and that actually have my real details on it.

So maybe try registering somewhere else, there are alot of companies that adds the proxy/privacy layer for you ? You can always then just link it to whatever account you have at say Cybersmart.

 

[SuperSomething]

That's what I'm looking for. Who did you register your .com with?

 

[diabolus]

That's what I'm looking for. Who did you register your .com with?

http://myhosting.com/domain-names/domains-pricing.aspx

(they actually have very good and cheap hosting options)

WHOIS Privacy

WHOIS Privacy is included FREE with some domain name registrations. It allows you to hide your contact information from the publicly available list of domain name owners. Instead of displaying your personal contact information, a set of proxy contact details will be displayed. Since each country has its own registration rules, it is not available for all domain names.

On that website above, they actually list the domain names/extensions that allow whois privacy.

Basically the main ones , .biz,.com,.org,.mobi,.net,.info ...the rest you won't be able to do it legally . So i guess if you want a .co.za domain, you will have to display all your info.

 

[Freshy-ZN]

Put your name as registrant, schools physical address and postal address as well as schools tel and fax number. Put your emails (create gmail ones if you havent already)

Job done.

 

[SuperSomething]

Thanks for all the help, everyone.