Who.is Blackmail

If you are the owner of a domain and would like to have the archived information removed from public display there is a $29.95 processing fee for each domain name.

I find who.is and whoismind's way of asking money for the removal of my information rather like blackmail, they have no right to save that information, I pay for my domain and the service I get from the reg, all whois sites have no right to save my name, address and other information, No one asked or authorised them to gather anything, let alone store that information and then have the gall to ask for money to remove it, this data belongs to me. removal should be for free, like it is it borders blackmailing, and with the new EU's right to be forgotten all sites using my information should remove it before I ask them.

 

If you do not reg your domain as private, then it is public info...

There is nothing illegal about it that I am aware of...
they simply pull your info, and if you want it removed, then they charge you...

unfor, if you do not go private, then your "public" data will end up
all over the internet via other "whois" sites, and I doubt your info
is just on their sites; your info is all over the internet....
just go out and check some sites,
its called "whois" for a reason....

 

...actually they do! The info is in the public domain.

that decision will have NO impact on this.

 

This is all public info.

Next.

 

I can't comment for who.is - they probably most likely store it in a database. I can note that at Whoisdoma, we don't store previous whois records, that is the job of the registrar, we only provide access to it through whois queries sent to the registrar.

 

First, if you're really worried about the WhoIs stuff then you need to buy privacy - that's all there is to it. That being said, it is a little messed up to make people pay to have their archived information removed...That's like charging to unsubscribe from an email list!

 

The "email list" example is a good one, but not entirely relevant as other factors are involved. You either choose to subscribe in the first place or someone obtained your information illegally. With domain registrations the second option does not exist, the choice is yours - you can go for Public or Private registration. I think a better example here would be renting a flat - you choose to either live with roommates, or alone. The second scenario is better for you in terms of privacy, but it will come at a little added cost.

Its a perfectly normal service. I don't know if all Whois websites charge for that, but instead of paying numerous websites and ranting about it, you can just get a Domain ID Protect for $10 or less and problem solved. As simple as that

 

Lots of 'what could have been done to avoid it' replies but really, it is to late for that. WHOIS protection was not purchased so it is a lesson for next time. If you want the data removed you would most likely have to pay or live with it being public.

 

The information that is public is the current DOMAIN owner, and to make it private you need to buy private registration from the company that sold you the domain NOT FROM WHOISMIND.COM
WHOISMIND.COM are scum and blackmailers , they take the history of a domain (lets say you buy a domain, then after a month you purchase privacy, but the crooks of WHOISMIND.COM will continue to publish your information even after you bought private registration from the legitimate registrar or even after the domain was SOLD or TRANSFERRED TO another person. After you sell or transfer the domain IT IS ILLEGAL to keep on publishing the name of the previous owners, and it is even more dishonest to ASK FOR money to delete that information, THUS WHOISMIND.COM is a fraudulent illegal company (take a look at how they registered that domain to see how fraudulent they are, their name doesn't show there, their address is not real, their telephone is from google voice, nothing is legit it is just a farce to hide the criminals behind that domain. Please add me to skype to help me SHUT THEM DOWN for good. Skype: easy.fun2

 

I'd agree with this.

I discovered my mobile number (private) was listed on quite a few sites as it was included in an old domain's whois. Once I spotted this I amended the whois data for that domain to my office number.

All whois sites updated their records, which is cool... but WHOISMIND.COM also store the history. So basically one Google search for my phone number brings up all my details. The only way to remove it is to pay a fee to them.

I realise that all the info was once in the public domain... but that doesn't make what they are doing sit comfortably with me. This site has been set up for the sole reason to make money out of removing historical whois info. I'm also not naive enough to think much can be done about it lol

However I will be making a 'right to be forgotten' request to Google for both my surname and phone number for this URL. Not sure what other action can be taken, but upon searching I came across this thread so thought I'd just add my voice.

EDIT: right to be forgotten only works for names... so as I'm concerned about people finding this info by Googleing my phone number that I'm concerned about it's FA use.

 

Model_supremacy, I just added you on skype. I'm sure there's a way to shut these scumbags down. First we need to find out who they are. Then we need to use the same technique they're using on us: blackmail, or threaten them with anything we can.

To all those who seem to advocate in favor of whoismind: you're obviously either lobbyists and/or have low morals. The only reason whoismind hasn't been shut down with its administrators jailed and heavily fined is because of loopholes in the law. Same reason why big company use loopholes in the law to make tax evasion possible. They respect the law by the letter but not by its spirit. And the law against such practices is already changing fast (cf the EU right to be forgotten) and soon the US will be covered too.

What whoismind do is immoral. What we need is get together and figure who are the guys behind it. It's the only way shut them down right now. Add easy.fun2 on skype. We're working on a way to find them.