First Letter of Last First name Name Why do you need/use Whois Privacy Michael G Because I do not want my personal information to be shared with the public. Thorsten E Spam and abuse protection James B I use Domain Privacy to prevent unwanted contacts from domain brokers, spammers and others spamming me their services. I help a number of 12 step program groups and family services work with domain names for websites that provide information to their members and interested parties. The anonymity of members is fundamental to the success and efficacy of these important programs, as is providing information to existing and interested participants or those in need. Whois proxy allows for the legitimate use of a domain name to enable communication about program material, meeting schedules, and other important information surrounding the anonymous programs without piercing the veil of anonymity that is at the core. Without personal anonymity, the safety and integrity of member participants is lost. Without Domain Proxy services that allow for individual privacy, these important Jothan F recovery programs with anonymity at their core will be disadvantaged. Alan O Privacy 2 Robert M I don't currently use privacy myself but I believe it is an important feature for the domain industry. brian K I dont want spammers contacting me Rich G Arun K I want to keep my personal information private and protect me from identity theft. kirsten S M J To keep my ownership info for the domains I own private. Christobal C As a domain owner I want to protect my investment and my identity. Here's what's going to happen. Someday I'm going to post something someone doesn't like on my website. they are going to look Jason P my information up and come kill me. Privacy is necessary on many levels, stop trying to take my right to privacy away. Adam W Aspects of my identity that attract harassment. Daniel N Freedom Barry S Steve S Tom K To protect my online privacy David C To keep work and private life separate. Rob V Kimberly L It belongs to me. It's my privacy. I should decide who sees it. Mike W Block SPAM, WHOIS integrity, unwanted solicitation Todd C I prefer to keep my domain ownership private. People do need to know what intellectual property that i own. Justin G Carissa P personal websites and work Alicia K Robert T Cooper G I use privacy for my home-based business Dennis S I use privacy for my commercial real estate blog. Frank M Daniel R To protect the personal information of my websites to do not receive more spam of the one I already receive. Alexandra A Because I hate spam! Luc S Cause I don't need to receive offers for viagra and Nigerian princes willing to make me their heir. Sarah C To protect the security of my home and family. Ann Maire P to keep my personal information private Alice V To protect my personal information! Giovanni L Thierry C Thomas E Its our rights. Lorna A I don't like receiving spam or being called by marketers and or possibly being stalked by someone who may have a problem with me or how I operate. Spammers, Scammers and Fraudsters can pull my information from my domain names and work towards stealing Tom L my identity and credit rating etc... Santiago R Security reasons in Colombia. Dont want people to know that I own websites, because they could maliciously use the info. Beth F Simon W My personal details do not need to be readily available to spammers. Carrie B As a young woman, I don't want my contact information easily accessible to someone who would use it to prey on me or my family. Doug R NOYB Joshua H I am just an individual who register domains for his personal use. I don't want people being able to look up my home address and Paul T telephone number. If I can no longer use whois privacy, I will stop buying domains as I do not wish to expose myself. I remember the days of getting a dozen fake renewal "bills" for my domain name every year. The amount of junkmail and spam and the huge potential for phishing alone are pretty darned compelling reasons for registrant privacy. If any company or individual can pierce that because I sell knitting on Etsy (and link to it from my personal site) or through brute force of harassing my registrar, they Justen B will. The system isn't broken. Don't break it by trying to "fix" it. Steinar G I need Whois privacy because there are hackers, phishing firms, and spam trolls on the internet and I shouldn't have to deal with them when I have my own domain. I prefer my privacy. If someone wants to discuss buying my domain my domain host firm will Thomas R contact me. Thank you Vytautas B Lutz B to keep personal information private, protect physical safety, and prevent identity theft We sell domains to our customers. We are in France and invidiuals need to have their data protected. We don't mind about Richard H companies but individuals must retain their right to privacy. [The] right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. BRANDEIS, U.S. SUPREME Matthew G COURT JUSTICE LOUIS, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 479 (1928) My wife is a realtor in the US and we use the privacy protections on Whois to ensure that our private contact information is not John H available to the general public or others. Duong T Mason S I don't, but I believe personal information should be kept private. Eldrick B brennan V Spam protection Nuno S Gustavo A I SIMPLY WANT TO KEEP MY PERSONAL INFORMATION PRIVATE. Michael J Michael K otto O You You X For the same reason I use PGP, securedns, TLS, and many other services -- because privacy is a right, not a privilege, and not one Dave C that an arbitrary corporation such as ICANN can take away from me. Jeff C Harry B To protect my personal information from being freely available. Tim E Mary B We must be able to trust that some piece of our lives can be kept private in the virtual world. Tim F privacy is an important concept that makes today's world possible .Let's keep it. Jamie P Doxxing does not need to be easier than it already is. Andrew W Identity protection. Everyone knows identity protection online is critical in the world we live in. This seems obvious Philipp D Data protection laws. Surprise surprise, America, Europe uses your resources too. Without WHOiS privacy, I spend my whole day deleting or wasting precious time avoiding scammers, nuisance phone calls, phishing scams and spam, when their bits come and harvest my person details. I've even be threatened because someone wanted to Ash C intimidate me to give up 1 of over 120 domains I have owned for years/decades.... They have my family's address!! Chris C Kevin M Ask Edward Snowden and you got your answer Benjamin K because i'm tired of scammers Jay D I don't need to. I have two domains parked though. Kevin D Marc S to keep personal information private, protect physical safety, and prevent identity theft Cyrille M Daniel E To protect my identity online. To prevent domains scammers to email me with offers. Pierre M Mathias M Isabelle V to protect my information on the net, I owned domain names and do not want everyone to know my private data. Alexander S Johanna C Gavin B Scott A Women face more than enough harassment and danger already, especially online, and for some women not being "public" could be the difference between life and death. I also work for a domain registrar, and questions about or requests to add WHOIS privacy come almost daily. I think it's reasonable for companies to be public, but I think individuals have the right to privacy, which includes Melanie B their domains and other online properties. Mahan M Joshua B Sam B Because it's been a known source for hackers to obtain personal information. Personally, I think it should be expanded to not require any personal information - just basic email contact information or an optional name and telephone contact. That's it. No address. No requirements for accuracy. The Registrar already has all the personal information for billing which are governed by Don F much tighter PII/PCI rules - there is no reason to have that same information publically accessible. Don't be a dick, ICANN. Hassan R Chercher à s inspirer, Niels T to protect freedom of expression and access to information Wesley B To protect my right to privacy, and to maintain the operation of a business without my contact information being available and Matthew T displayed publicly across the world. Greg W Nick S Protect my info for personal & business sites. DEBBIE G William D Ian M For basic business details privacy Aptrail A It's privacy. In the internet we need this function to stay. For my domains I don't use it. But I think we should save it. Tony T Petar B Keep my data private!!!! Hasan Y malania G to protect my domain info I don't have a business contact address -- all my domains are personal. I don't want to put my home address and contact Joshua S information on the internet where it can be searched.