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Domain Privacy by Extension: Where You Can Hide Your WHOIS Data
Written by Sarah Johnson ·
The short answer
WHOIS privacy is not available everywhere. Of the 1,175 domain extensions we sell, privacy protection can be added to 617 and cannot be added to 558. Almost every European country domain is in the second group – and in most of those cases it is not because your data is exposed, but because the registry already hides personal data by default. The question that matters is not "should I buy privacy?" but "does my extension allow it, and does it need it?"
This page answers that extension by extension. Checked against our own registration system on 23 August 2026; availability changes rarely, but the page of each extension always shows what applies today.
📋 Table of Contents
1. Extensions where you can add WHOIS privacy
These are the extensions people ask about most where the privacy service is available. Adding it replaces your name, postal address, email and phone in the public WHOIS record with the details of a privacy service, while you remain the legal owner of the domain.
| Extension | WHOIS privacy | Type |
|---|---|---|
| .com | Available | Generic |
| .net | Available | Generic |
| .org | Available | Generic |
| .info | Available | Generic |
| .io | Available | Country (British Indian Ocean Territory) |
| .co | Available | Country (Colombia) |
| .ai | Available | Country (Anguilla) |
| .xyz | Available | Generic |
| .online | Available | Generic |
| .shop | Available | Generic |
| .store | Available | Generic |
| .app | Available | Generic |
| .xxx | Available | Restricted (adult) |
| .adult | Available | Restricted (adult) |
| .mx | Available | Country (Mexico) |
| .gg | Available | Country (Guernsey) |
| .cc | Available | Country (Cocos Islands) |
| .tv | Available | Country (Tuvalu) |
These 18 are a sample of the 617 extensions where privacy can be added. The service costs around US$15 a year for most of them and US$30 for a few; the price that applies to a given extension is shown on its own page and in the cart before you pay.
2. Extensions where you cannot – and why
For these, there is no privacy service to buy. That is a decision of each registry, not of the registrar, so no provider can sell you privacy on them:
| Extension | Country | WHOIS privacy |
|---|---|---|
| .eu | European Union | Not offered |
| .de | Germany | Not offered |
| .fr | France | Not offered |
| .es | Spain | Not offered |
| .it | Italy | Not offered |
| .be | Belgium | Not offered |
| .ch | Switzerland | Not offered |
| .uk | United Kingdom | Not offered |
| .ca | Canada | Not offered |
| .us | United States | Not offered |
| .cl | Chile | Not offered |
| .jp | Japan | Not offered |
| .cn | China | Not offered |
| .to | Tonga | Not offered |
"Not offered" covers three very different situations, and they are worth telling apart before assuming your data is on display:
- The registry already hides personal data by default. This is the usual case for European country domains: since the GDPR came into force, most European registries stopped publishing the personal details of individual registrants in their public WHOIS. There is no privacy service to sell because the privacy is already there.
- The registry requires the registrant to be identifiable. Some country registries treat the public record as part of the deal, typically where the extension is tied to a local presence or a national policy. On those, proxy services are not accepted.
- The registry does not support proxy registrations. A technical and contractual limitation rather than a policy about privacy.
Which of the three applies is a question about the registry, not about us, and the answer can change when a registry updates its policy. If your business depends on it, check the current policy of that registry before you register – and remember that a domain under a company name, at a company address, is public information in most jurisdictions anyway.
3. What domain privacy actually hides
It replaces four fields in the public WHOIS record: registrant name, postal address, email and phone. Mail sent to the published address is forwarded to you, so a legitimate enquiry still reaches you.
What it does not do, and no provider can promise otherwise:
- It does not hide you from the registry or the registrar. Your real details are on file; privacy only affects what is published.
- It does not survive a legal process. A court order, a trademark dispute (UDRP) or a valid law-enforcement request lifts it.
- It does not anonymise the website. Hosting records, TLS certificates, DNS history, analytics identifiers and the site's own contact page can all identify the owner.
- It does not stop all spam. It stops the spam that comes from scraping WHOIS – which is a real and significant share of it – not the rest.
- It does not change ownership. You remain the legal owner; the privacy service only stands in for your contact details.
4. When it matters most
- You register from home. Without privacy, your home address is published next to your domain. This is the single most common reason to add it.
- Adult and sensitive sites. On .xxx, .adult and the rest of the adult extensions, separating the owner from the site is often the point of the purchase, and privacy is available on all of them.
- A project you have not announced yet. WHOIS records are monitored: a registration under your company name can reveal a launch, a brand or an acquisition before you do.
- A domain that is worth money. A public owner on a valuable name attracts offers, social engineering and transfer-fraud attempts.
And when it matters less: a company domain published under the company's registered name and commercial address, which is public information already.
5. How to add it
Privacy is added per domain, in the cart at registration or from your account afterwards, on any of the 617 extensions that support it. Registering a new name and want to know whether privacy is available before you commit? Check the extension's own page – it states what is available and what the registry requires – or start from domain search.
6. FAQs
Is WHOIS privacy legal?
Yes, on the extensions that support it. It is a standard service offered under ICANN policy for generic extensions; the registry knows the real registrant. What varies is whether a given registry accepts it – which is what the two tables above answer.
Why can't I buy privacy for my .de or .fr domain?
Because that registry does not offer the service. In the case of most European country domains, personal data of individual registrants is already withheld from the public WHOIS by default, so there is nothing to add.
Does domain privacy affect SEO?
No. Search engines do not rank sites by their WHOIS record. What can matter is trust: a site that asks for payment while hiding every trace of who runs it convinces fewer visitors, whatever the WHOIS says.
Can I add privacy after registering?
Yes, at any time from your account, on the extensions that support it. The change is published in WHOIS within minutes to a few hours depending on the registry.
Will privacy stop someone from finding out I own the domain?
It stops the casual lookup. It does not stop a determined investigation: certificates, DNS history, archived pages and the site's own content routinely identify owners. Treat it as removing your address from a public directory, not as anonymity.
Check before you register. Every extension page on Register.Domains states whether WHOIS privacy is available and what the registry requires – from .com to the 617 extensions where privacy can be added.
