How can I protect my domain with Webcentral FAQ
Protecting your Webcentral domain is an essential part of managing your online presence. Webcentral has three levels of domain protection including keeping your domain information private, constant monitoring services for cyber-squatters with real-time alerts, and transfer lock to prevent unauthorised domain actions.
Select a question to see its answer:
- Why is protecting my domain important?
- What is Domain Privacy?
- What are my protection plan options?
- How will people be able to contact me?
- Can I change my protection plan?
- How can I verify domain ownership?
Why is protecting my Webcentral domain important?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has a regulatory requirement for anyone who registers a domain name to gather the contact information of the person or business registering the domain, known as the registrant or domain holder. This information includes the name, phone number, address, and other details, which are reported to the domain registry and shown publicly on the WHOIS directory. We take your privacy and protection seriously. Spammers, data miners, and marketers often use the public directory to extract private details, like your name, address, phone number, and email. Domain Privacy masks the contact information you submitted with your domain registration, minimising unsolicited calls and emails from people using the public directory. If someone wants to get in touch with you about your domain, we will be contacted and we'll screen the message before contacting you to ensure you’re not bothered by anything trivial. But it's not just about keeping your personal information private, either. We aim to help you protect your domain and your entire online presence.
What is Domain Privacy?
Domain privacy enables you to remain anonymous and prevent domain-related spam while meeting ICANN regulatory requirements. All eligible domains that purchase domain privacy have all domain contact information automatically substituted with proxy details from our privacy service provider. You'll have your contact information on the domain itself, but it won't be available to the registry, or visible in the WHOIS directory unless you change the visibility settings on your domain. The domain still belongs to you — except now, you and the domain privacy services will be the only ones who know it. Domain Privacy isn't available on some domain extensions (such as .au/.com.au/.net.au/.org.au).
In the example below, all the domain owners' details have been REDACTED FOR PRIVACY:
What are my protection options?
We have three domain protection products available, so you can determine which options are best for you and your online presence.
- Domain Privacy Protection: When you register a domain name with any provider, your details (name, address, email, and phone number) are automatically added to a public WHOIS directory. This is a regulatory requirement for anyone who registers their domain. With Domain Privacy you can hide your personal information from public view, protecting you from spammers, data miners, and marketers to reduce unsolicited phone calls and emails. Click here to go to our website.
- Domain ID Protection: It is no longer feasible to register every possible domain extension of your brand and related terms to prevent cyber-squatters or your competitors from doing so. Domain Protection provides you with a real-time monitoring service of over 60 domain spaces. Receive live email alerts and detailed monthly domain protection reports which identify others who may be trying to leverage or damage your brand's image online. Click here to go to our website.
- Domain Privacy + Protection: For all eligible domain names you'll get the same domain privacy to substitute your contact information + constant monitoring to help defend your business from cyber-squatters and Webcentral's Domain ID Protection services will monitor the web for domains containing your brand or related terms and you'll get alerts on high-risk registration activity.
- Domain Transfer Lock: You'll get alerts on high-risk activities, such as transferring away, updating nameservers, and changing contact information, and you'll be required to provide your consent through 2-step verification. Click here to go to our website.
Domains currently on Registry lock, Domain Privacy, and Domain ID Protection will continue being protected by these plans until the domain is canceled, fails to renew, or if the protection plan is downgraded.
How will people be able to contact me?
You'll get a private email address that can be used to filter, block, or forward emails to your chosen email address. This lets you stay in touch with anyone trying to contact the domain owner, while still keeping your personal email address private.
Can I change my protection level?
Yes, you can change your protection level at any time. You can upgrade your protection to gain additional security features. Or you can downgrade your protection to remove the additional security features. With domain privacy turned on your private contact information will be substituted at the Registry and on the Webcentral WHOIS directory, regardless of the plan level. With domain ID protection turned on your domain will have constant monitoring for up to 60 domain name spaces worldwide.
How can I verify domain ownership?
If you need to verify your domain ownership, we recommend adding a TXT record to your DNS zone file. This is the best option to maintain your privacy while letting you prove you own the domain name. You can also change the privacy settings on your domain, which will show all registrant contact information.
Related steps
- Set up 2-step verification for the best security on your domains and account.
- Make sure you turn on auto-renew to continue your domain registration uninterrupted.
More info
- Some domains aren't eligible for privacy protection, due to registry restrictions. Review the Domain Name Registration Agreement for details.
- If you've decided to invoke Nominet's WHOIS opt-out policy, your contact information visibility will be determined by that policy, regardless of what protection level you have through Webcentral.
- Log in to your account and review your domain contact information to ensure your details are accurate and up to date.
Updated 3 months ago