Quick answer
How do I hide the domain owner from the registry?
To hide the domain owner from the registry, the owner's details must never be sent to it. NomineeName registers each domain in the name of DomaineGoat LLC. As of October 2026, the registrant record names the company on all 129 extensions we sell, and registries that keep contact data, like DENIC, receive its details. A .de costs $10.99/year. No KYC, paid in crypto.
What reaches the registry
| Registrant in the record | DomaineGoat LLC, Panama (the thin .com and .net registries receive no contact data) |
|---|---|
| Your name, address, phone | Not collected, so never sent |
| What we keep about you | One verified email per domain (data we collect) |
| Extensions that ask for a postal address | .de, .uk, .nl, .ch, .pl, .be, .at, .cz, .to, .cc, .fi, .nz |
| Extensions that publish the holder | .fi, .nz, .cc: they publish the company |
| RDAP replaced WHOIS for gTLDs | 28 January 2025 |
| Price | .com $12.99/year, .de $10.99/year, .uk $8.99/year |
Why is hiding the owner from WHOIS not enough?
Because public WHOIS is only the visible layer. Registration data lives in three places, and a privacy setting covers the first one only.
- The public record (WHOIS, now RDAP): what anyone can look up.
- The registrar's database: the full contact data, kept and escrowed under ICANN's Registrar Accreditation Agreement.
- The registry's database: the copy a registry keeps under its own law, when it keeps contact data (.org, .io, .de, .uk…); the thin .com and .net registries keep none.
Redaction of personal data in the public record has been the norm since 2018. It is now written into ICANN's Registration Data Policy. So the public layer is often redacted anyway. The other two layers are what third parties ask for.
Those requests are frequent. ICANN's Registration Data Request Service received more than 3,700 disclosure requests during its pilot. The pilot ran from November 2023 to November 2025, per ICANN's blog of 3 March 2026.
Which layer holds your details?
| Layer | Your own name + WHOIS privacy | Nominee registration at NomineeName |
|---|---|---|
| Public WHOIS / RDAP | A privacy contact or redacted fields | DomaineGoat LLC |
| Registrar database | Your name, address, phone and email | The company's details |
| Registry database | Your name and address where the registry keeps contact data (none at .com and .net), and more for some ccTLDs | The company's details, where the registry keeps contact data |
| Service provider | The privacy service knows you | NomineeName holds one verified email |
| Legal holder | You | DomaineGoat LLC, with you as beneficial owner |
Which registries ask for the holder's postal address?
Many country-code registries do. For .de (DENIC), .uk (Nominet), .nl (SIDN) and .ch (SWITCH), the holder record includes a name and a postal address. Some registries, such as those of .fi, .nz and .cc, publish the holder's details.
With our company as holder, these registries file and, where they publish, show DomaineGoat LLC. Your own address never enters their records. Prices include the nominee registration:
| Extension | 1st year | Renewal | Transfer | Registrant shown | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .de | $10.99 | $10.99 | $10.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .uk | $8.99 | $8.99 | $8.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .nl | $10.99 | $10.99 | $10.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .ch | $13.99 | $13.99 | $13.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .pl | $13.99 | $13.99 | $13.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .be | $10.99 | $10.99 | $10.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .at | $17.99 | $17.99 | $17.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .cz | $17.99 | $17.99 | $17.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .fi | $26.99 | $26.99 | $26.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .nz | $26.99 | $26.99 | $26.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .to | $59.99 | $59.99 | $59.99 | In our name, included | None |
| .cc | $13.99 | $13.99 | $13.99 | In our name, included | None |
How can you check what the registry shows?
Look up the domain in RDAP. Go to lookup.icann.org, type the domain and read the registrant section. For a domain held by us, the organisation is DomaineGoat LLC and the country is Panama.
RDAP shows the public layer only. You cannot read the registry's private file. But the logic is simple: we never collect your name or address, so there is nothing of yours to forward. Step-by-step: check who the registrant is.
What can still link you to the domain?
The registration data is only one trail. Other traces depend on how you use the domain, and no registration service controls them:
- Your account: NomineeName keeps your verified email. It goes out only when Panamanian law requires it (a Panamanian court or prosecutor's order), or in a UDRP case (disclosure policy).
- The payment: crypto transactions are public on their blockchain. We do not ask who sent them.
- The website: hosting, analytics IDs, mail headers and the content itself can name you.
- DNS history: archives keep old records, including those from before a transfer to us.
A fresh email address used only for the domain account helps keep this trail short.
Hiding the owner: questions
Does free WHOIS privacy hide me from the registry?
No. A privacy service replaces your details in the public record, but the registrar still holds them, and many registries also receive them. For ccTLDs such as .de or .uk, privacy add-ons are often not offered at all. Only a different registrant keeps your details out of the registry.
Can the registry ask NomineeName who the customer is?
A registry deals with its registrant, which is our company. Our policy is to release customer data only when Panamanian law requires it (a Panamanian court or prosecutor's order), or in a UDRP case.
What happens to my old data if I transfer a domain to you?
The new registrant becomes our company, so new records carry its details. Copies made before the transfer, at your old registrar, at the registry and in public WHOIS archives, are outside our control. A brand-new registration avoids that history.
Can I hide the owner of a .de domain from DENIC?
Yes, by having a different holder. The .de registry files a name and a postal address for every holder. With us, the holder is DomaineGoat LLC, so DENIC receives the company's details. A .de costs $10.99/year including this. See the .de page.
Why can you not do this for .eu or .us?
Those registries only accept holders with a local tie. .eu needs EU or EEA residence, and .us needs a US nexus and bans privacy. Our company does not qualify, so we do not sell them. The list is on extensions we cannot hold.
Is hiding the owner from the registry legal?
Using a nominee company as registrant is a recognised model in ICANN's rules: the registrant takes on responsibility for the domain's use. You remain bound by the law where you live and by our acceptable use policy. This is not legal advice.
Sources (4)
- ICANN's RDRS two-year pilot: what we learned and where we go next — ICANN (checked 2026-10-19)
- ICANN Update: Launching RDAP; Sunsetting WHOIS — ICANN (checked 2026-10-19)
- 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (data retention and escrow) — ICANN (checked 2026-10-19)
- How does Nominet validate data? — Nominet (checked 2026-10-19)
Keep your name out of the registry file
Register in our company's name from the first day.