Protection of domain info ?

[MooPi]

Going through the domain registration and I'm trying to decide if I need protection and limited display of WHOIS data ? Is this just a ploy to get more cash out of website noobs like me ? GoDaddy wants 10 extra bucks a year to protect personal and business info.

[t0p]

It's a matter of personal preference. Some people like the fact that users can find their details easily through WHOIS; other people would prefer that their name and/or email address isn't linked publicly to the domain. It's just like how some of this site's members like to be contactable via IM or email while other members prefer PMs. There's no right or wrong answer.

[whiskeylover]

Keep in mind that once you register a domain without privacy, the info is usually stolen by spammers in a matter of days. Then if you activate privacy on it, its useless since they already have your info.

[CharlesA]

Keep in mind that once you register a domain without privacy, the info is usually stolen by spammers in a matter of days. Then if you activate privacy on it, its useless since they already have your info.

Bingo.

If/when I register any domains, I use the privacy option.

[Barrucadu]

I've never bothered with it. Admittedly, I've got some postal spam (from the "Domain Renewal Group" - a rather shady looking organisation), but barely any.
I think the benefit of the data being available for legitimate people to contact me outweighs the disadvantage of two or three unsolicited letters a year.

[linux-hack]

You don't need this protection ... This is more for companies then privates ....

[MooPi]

Thanks for the comments and advice. This is a small financial venture for me and I haven't registered because I'll be a gnat on a huge camels back. Hardly a reason to spam or even notice.

[Señor Banana]

Here's the thing with Whois info.
It's taken off of your payment information, so you can't fake it.
At least, through enom it is. I'd strongly suggest using protection, but there are cheaper ways to go about it, such as enom.

[Slug71]

I just registered a Domain about a month ago through Namecheap. It came with a free year of WHOIS protection.

[fatality_uk]

You don't need this protection ... This is more for companies then privates ....

For individuals, it's far more important to ensure their personal information is not available online for pretty much anyone to see.

[SeijiSensei]

Thanks for the comments and advice. This is a small financial venture for me and I haven't registered because I'll be a gnat on a huge camels back. Hardly a reason to spam or even notice.

You'd think so, but every new domain gets spammed pretty much hours after it's announced. Also whatever addresses you register in WHOIS will become spam targets almost immediately as well.

Usually if I register a new domain I'll get mail for somephonyperson@mynewdomain.com within a couple of days. If you take the common option of sending all mail for the domain to a single mailbox regardless of recipient address, you'll see all this junk.

On WHOIS, I'd consider getting a free throwaway address at gmail or the like and using that instead of your real address for registration.