# WHOIS Privacy: How Hiding the Owner's Data Works

> What WHOIS privacy is, which data it hides, what stays visible, what it costs at Riki Domains and in which zones it is not needed.

- Language: en
- Published: 2026-11-01 · Updated: 2026-11-01
- HTML: https://rikidomains.at/en/glossary/whois-privacy/
- Markdown: https://rikidomains.at/en/glossary/whois-privacy/index.md
- RU version: https://rikidomains.at/ru/glossary/whois-privacy/

**WHOIS privacy** (a privacy or proxy service) replaces the owner's contacts in the domain's public record with the contacts of a dedicated service. The domain stays yours and you manage it as usual, while outsiders see the privacy service's name, address and a forwarding email in the record.

## What is hidden and what is not

Hidden: the name, organisation, postal address, phone and email of the owner and the contacts. Not hidden: the registrar, nameservers, dates and domain statuses, plus everything outside the record: the server IP in DNS, certificates in Certificate Transparency logs, shared analytics identifiers. The full breakdown of leaks is in the guide [WHOIS privacy explained](https://rikidomains.at/en/guides/whois-privacy-explained/).

## How it works at Riki Domains

- **Standard zones:** an option in the cart, $10 per domain, enabled before payment. For some zones the bot marks it as unavailable.
- **Platinum and Titan zones:** the domain is registered by the service staff with Riki Domains details, so the client's data never enters the registry record and a separate option is not needed.

## Why to decide at purchase

WHOIS archives store every version of a record. A domain that was public for even a few days stays discoverable by the old data for years, even if privacy is enabled later.

> [Open the bot](https://t.me/riki_domains_bot?start=d13)

## FAQ

**What happens to email sent to the hidden address?**

The privacy service receives it and forwards what matters to the owner, such as registrar notices, while filtering spam.

**Does privacy protect the domain from complaints?**

No. It hides the contacts, not the domain itself: complaints are filed with the registrar and handled under its rules regardless of privacy.