WHOIS and registrant data: what is public

What you'll achieve

• see what is public about your domain;
• keep the registrant details up to date, especially the email address;
• recognize fake letters and emails about your domain.

What is usually visible

Exactly what appears depends on the registry and on the type of registrant (individual or company). The safest way is to check your own domain (steps below).

Your registrant details go to the registrar and to the extension's registry, as stated in the Privacy Policy. Authorities and parties with a legitimate interest (for example, in a trademark dispute) can request them from the registry through the channels set out in its rules.

The steps

A. See what appears about your domain

1. For .com, .eu and the others: open https://lookup.icann.org, enter the domain and click Lookup. The data comes through RDAP, the protocol that replaced the old WHOIS for generic extensions.
2. For .ro: use the WHOIS on https://www.rotld.ro.
3. Check the expiry date and the nameservers. If the nameservers aren't the ones you expect (ns1.nbt-host.ro and ns2.nbt-host.ro, if your DNS is with us), see How to point your domain to NBT Host.

B. Keep the registrant email up to date

Messages from the registry go to the registrant email: data verification for generic extensions, the transfer key for .ro, warnings.

4. Use an address you will always have, not an address on that same domain: if the domain stops working, you won't receive the message that would help you fix it either.
5. If the address has changed, write to us for a domain registered through NBT Host. For .ro, ROTLD has its own procedure for changing the email address; we will walk you through it.
6. For a company domain, use an address that several people in the company can access, not the personal email of an employee who may leave.

C. Keep the registrant details up to date

7. If your company has changed its name or registered office, let us know: the registrant details must be accurate. For generic extensions, ICANN rules require changed details to be verified by email.
8. Changing the registrant (for example, from you as an individual to your company) is a separate procedure. For .ro, through NBT Host, it costs €10 and extends the domain by 12 months (see the Domains page).

Fake letters and emails about your domain

Public data (the domain and its expiry date) is used by companies that send letters or emails that look like a renewal invoice. If you pay, in most cases you have transferred the domain to them, at a much higher price, or bought a service you don't need, such as “search engine registration”.

How to recognize them:

• they come from a company you have never worked with, often with an official-sounding name, such as “domain registry”;
• they have a very short deadline and a price far above the usual one;
• for a domain registered through NBT Host, we renew it automatically, charged to your saved card; we never send you an invoice to pay through a link from another company (see Automatic renewal and declined payments).

More about fake messages in Fake emails in the name of your hosting or domain.

If something doesn't work

• WHOIS shows the old details. The update appears at the registry after we confirm it. If the details are still old after a few days, write to us.
• You don't receive the data verification email (for .com and the others). Check your Spam folder. If 15 days have passed, the domain may be suspended until verification: write to us and we will resend it.
• You received an “invoice” for your domain from another company. Don't pay it. If you're not sure, send it to us and we will tell you what it is.
• Someone asks you to prove the domain is yours. Write to us: we will confirm your details from the registry.