4 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Domain Name’s Contact Details ALWAYS

In my previous entry, I posted a short reminder for you to make sure your domain name’s contact details are completely updated no matter what. Although I’ve posted about 2 threads explaining what can possibly happen if you don’t keep them updated, I’ve decided to share 4 good reasons why you should make sure to update your domain name’s contact details matter what.

For those who just came in, every domain name’s contact details are listed in a public viewable database called WHOIS. You might see the word WHOIS in your domain registrar’s website.

One of their agreements with ICANN is to list each and every domain name registration’s contact details in their respective public WHOIS database. Everyone and anyone can virtually lookup your contact details.

But there might come a time wherein you’ll change your street address, your phone number, or your email address for whatever reason. Problem is, your registrar isn’t going to know that until you someone let them know.

And if you think doing this simple task is no big deal, well I’m going to explain in detail 4 good reasons why…

1. You might not get your renewal notices on time.

This one should be a no-brainer: registrars will send renewal notices only to the listed contact details. They’ll send it via email at the very least, postal is optional depending on their resources.

If your email address listed on record is inactive for any reason whatsoever, then you’ll definitely not get the renewal notices on time.

Many registrars, in fact, email multiple renewal notices roughly within 1-6 months before expiration. They’re aware they’re potentially pissing off some people, but better to send out such rather than be accused later on of not emailing them when it’s time to renew.

(Unfortunately emails aren’t as reliable as they once were. But that’s another story.)

That being said

2. You might not get your notices indicating a change has been made to your account.

Most if not all registrars’ systems are configured to automatically email notices to the listed contacts on record if any record change has been made. This especially happens if the nameservers, the administrative contact email address, or even the registrant name has been altered.

One catch to this is it only notifies the contact using whatever is (or was) listed on the record. It doesn’t say they’ll undo the change upon being notified of such, they’re leaving it up to you to correct it if need be.

If you got a notice informing you of such, do contact your registrar right away and ask about this. But be prepared for the possibility that someone may be trying to compromise your account, and that’s a potential legal issue.

Now let’s move on to the next reason

3. Your name might get deleted due to violating their WHOIS policy.

In another separate thread, I talked about an ICANN policy forcing registrars to ensure every domain name’s contact details are complete and updated; that if the regisrar finds out a domain name has invalid contact data, they’ll suspend and even delete the name altogether.

(Note: I’m aware someone might use the information here might possibly use the information against you. I don’t condone their intent to abuse this information, but I won’t be held responsible if such a thing happened because of this.)

Your registrar might receive a complaint claiming your domain name’s contact details are incomplete and/or outdated. They’ll immediately at least send an email to the ones listed on record, although they might also send a fax and/or do a phone call if they can afford it.

If the registrar doesn’t receive a reply after a period of time (anywhere from 24 hours to 7 days at most from what I’ve observed), they’ll disable any website and/or email access to the domain name and give another period of time to hopefully get your attention. No response after such time will finally give them grounds to delete the domain name due to this.

And yes, they’re allowed to do this. Again, it’s ICANN policy, and every registrar has incorporated this in their service agreements.

The final reason is potentially the scariest, and that’s because:

4. The domain name might get hijacked.

I’m going to explain a case of how this sort of thing can happen.

A few years ago, someone lost his domain name because it was transferred to another registrar without him knowing about it. He promptly notified his registrar about this to make them get it back.

The registrar investigated and eventually told him someone had accessed his Account with proper login credentials. To be specific, someone had used their online password recovery options by requesting the password to be sent to the email address on record.

The person told them the email address on record was actually an email address from an old Internet Service Provider he no longer kept for about 2 years or so. Apparently the hijacker had re-registered the email account, and used it to secure the login details needed to unlock the domain name and eventually transfer it out.

To this day, the domain name appears to remain stolen. Unfortunately it’s going to take a lot of legwork and valid proof of claims to show such a thing happened.

But you can see what happened: because the person never changed his email address to his updated one (and on time at that), someone else eventually gained control of that email address and used it to get the username and password. The thief then logged inside the account, unlocked the domain, and eventually transferred it out.

So you’ve now read 4 damn good reasons why you shouldno, must make sure your domain name’s contact details are updated no matter what. Your registrar is not going to do it for you, you have to let them know.

Unfortunately it’s not enough that you simply email them and say, Hey guys, I moved from California to Utah. Here are my new Utah contact details. Registrars don’t know and don’t care about that, and they’ll likely tell you to log inside your account and do it yourself.

And registrars aren’t that stupid, either. They know all too well of the possibility of someone trying to compromise somebody’s account, so they’ll ask you to do it or call them to authenticate you (e.g. ask your password, answer the security question, etc.).

So check your domain name’s contact details and make sure they’re updated. It only takes a few minutes of your time, and a few minutes can make all the difference in the world.