WHOIS Privacy and Transfer Approval Emails
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Table of Contents
- Should you disable privacy before a transfer?
- Does this expose your contact details?
- Have more questions?
When you transfer a domain name from another registrar into DNSimple, the approval email comes from your current registrar, not from DNSimple. For generic TLDs, ICANN’s Transfer Policy requires that registrar to email the registrant on record to confirm the transfer. Because the email is sent from the current registrar’s records, the privacy setting that matters is the one on your existing account, not anything in DNSimple.
If WHOIS privacy (also called privacy protection) is on at your current registrar, that email may not reach you. This can happen for several reasons:
- The proxy email address discards inbound mail or does not forward it correctly.
- The privacy service is not forwarding mail because of a technical problem.
Some registrars also will not start a transfer while WHOIS privacy is enabled.
Should you disable privacy before a transfer?
Yes. To make sure you receive the approval email, disable WHOIS privacy at your current registrar before you request the transfer.
Does this expose your contact details?
For most generic TLDs, very little becomes public. Registration data is redacted by default under ICANN policy whether or not WHOIS privacy is enabled, so disabling it usually exposes far less than it once did. See Domain privacy after GDPR.
Where a TLD does publish contact data, you can re-enable WHOIS privacy as soon as the approval email arrives, which limits how long the information is exposed. Once the transfer completes, enable WHOIS Privacy at DNSimple at no cost.
Have more questions?
If you have any questions about WHOIS privacy and domain transfers, just contact support, and we’ll be happy to help. You can also read more about domain registration at DNSimple.