How to Appear Anonymous in Domain Searches by Turning On WHOIS Privacy

Gandi’s privacy service is a free and automatic service which anonymizes some personal details in the contact information listed publicly for your domain.

Hidden WHOIS Data

This option, activated by default, hides your personal data in Gandi’s public WHOIS database. Due to internet regulations, your state, country, anonymized email address (see below), and company name (where applicable) will still be visible. All other information will display “redacted for privacy”.

By deactivating this option, you expressly consent to the publication of your personal data in the public WHOIS database. You can withdraw your consent at any time by reactivating the hidden WHOIS data option. The following steps explain how to deactivate or reactivate Whois Privacy on your account:

  1. Log in to your account.

  2. Click “Domain” to see a list of your domains.

  3. Click on the domain you wish to edit.

  4. Click on the “Domain contacts” tab.

  5. Click on “Edit” under the contact you wish to manage.

  6. Scroll down until you see “Whois privacy.”

  7. Click on the toggle button beneath “Whois privacy.” When activated, a white check mark will appear. When deactivated, there will be no check mark.

  8. Click “Save” on the bottom of the page.

This option does not apply to the following extensions, where your personal data is protected at the registry level. For these extensions Gandi displays the WHOIS information as provided by the registry. In this case, should you want your personal data to be publicly available, please contact our support team.

Extensions for which Gandi displays the WHOIS information as provided by the registry:

.af, .at, .at, .be, .ch, .cx, .de, .eu, .fr, .gd, .gs, .gy, .hn, .ht, .ie, .ki, .kn, .li, .lt, .lv, .ms, .nf, .no, .nu, .nz, .pl, .pm, .pt, .re, .ro, .ru, .sb, .se, .sk, .tf, .tl, .uk, .vg, .wf, .yt

Anonymized Email Address

This option, activated by default, replaces your email address in both the public WHOIS database and at the registry (where possible) with an anonymized email address in the form of “xxxxxxxxx@contact.gandi.net”. This anonymized email address will forward any mail to the email address you provided when you registered the domain.

By deactivating this option, your real email address will be stored in the registry’s database. If you want your real email address to be published in the public WHOIS database, you must also deactivate the hidden WHOIS data option.

By deactivating this option, your real email address will be stored in the registry’s database. You can withdraw your consent at any time by reactivating the anonymized email option. If you want your real email address to be published in the public WHOIS database, you must also deactivate the hidden WHOIS option as described in the previous section, then use the following steps to deactivate the anonymized email address.

  1. Log in to your account.

  2. Click “Domain” to see a list of your domains.

  3. Click on the domain you wish to edit.

  4. Click on the “Domain contacts” tab.

  5. Click on “Edit” under the contact you wish to manage.

  6. Scroll down until you see “Whois privacy.”

  7. Click on the toggle button beneath “Whois privacy.” When activated, a white check mark will appear. When deactivated, there will be no check mark.

  8. Click “Save” on the bottom of the page.

Extensions which do not support the anonymized email address option:

.ai, .ar, .au, .be, .bo, .br, .brussels, .bs, .cl, .cr, .cu, .dk, .do, .ec, .fr (for individuals), .gt, .homes, .ie, .jm, .kn, .ni, .pa, .ph, .pt, .py, .sv, .tt, .uk, .uy, .ve, .vi, .vlaanderen, .xxx

As well as: .aeroport.fr, avocat.fr, chambagri.fr, chirurgiens-dentistes.fr, experts-comptables.ft, geometre-expert.fr, medecin.fr, notaires.fr, pharmacien.fr, port.fr, veterinaire.fr

Procedure - Disclosure of Domain Contacts Data

Except for Domain Contacts who opt-in, personal data is masked in Gandi’s responses to “Whois” queries, in accordance with the rules set forth by ICANN or the Registries and the laws relative to the protection of personal data.

However, third parties may request that Domain Contact information be disclosed to them.

This procedure defines how Gandi may or may not disclose this information.