Would this be a serious invasion of privacy?

[IconPacks]

I was using DomainTools today to search a few domains and do some general research and their Reverse IP tool got me thinking.

They currently have records of all major TLD's and the IPs they are hosted on, so they can provide the reverse IP service. However I would assume a similar concept could also be used with the Name and Address for the Whois Registrant info?

If so, you could find all domains owned by a particular person, company or registered to a particular address, correct?

- Has this ever been done?
- Does anyone offer this service?
- Is there some technical issue I'm overlooking?

and would this be a serious invasion of privacy?

 

[Dan]

It sounds like you'd have to scan every domain in existence to do that.. I don't think they have that saved up in their records like a reverse name/address.

I don't think any sites offer that or that it's ever been done.
(You could try asking the person what their domains are?)

 

[IconPacks]

Well DomainTools archive all whois info so it's possible. Just curious if it has been done, and if not, why not and the morals of it I guess

 

[The Stealthy One]

It's publicly available information anyway, so I do not see any clear downfalls (moral, ethical, or legal) to automatically assembling it into a referenced collection.

 

[nRnF]

This service was offered by NSI in the 90s through the "nic handle".
Currently I do not know any active service.

 

[Spade]

This topic has been discussed in other threads. There is the possibility to do that, and this information could potentially help in negotiations, especially giving you more information about who the buyer really is.

However, Im sure someone could put it together in conjunction with Domain Tools. Its definetly doable, and theyve got the info to do it.

Justin

 

[Dave_Z]

and would this be a serious invasion of privacy?

Under whose laws and/or expectations?

As FreewayWebhost said, WHOIS info is public information.

 

[peaches017]

I've gotten worried that someone could use this technology to drive to the house of a LLL.com owner and force him to "give up the goods." Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

Peter

 

[IconPacks]

Under whose laws and/or expectations?

As FreewayWebhost said, WHOIS info is public information.

I wasn't suggesting this would be illegal but would perhaps allow for more information to be found out about someone than they would like.

There are quite a few examples of how it could be used, both positively and negatively.

1) Use it to find more information about a potential buyer/seller - all registered domains they own, on all servers (not just the ones found by using reverse ip).

2) Say an individual wanted to have two separate portfolios and one contained sensitive (possible adult?) domains, the two could now be linked together and possibly embarrass said individual. (e.g. Stupid CEO of large company registers explicit / embarrassing domain).

3) Could be used to find "lost" domains, if you had domains over a large number of registrars you could find everything you own and get a nice overview - maybe even finding a domain that you had on auto-renew and forgot about.

4) Monitor what a particular company was registering (future products, trademarks etc...) and gain valuable market info/insight.

5) Would allow for searching of domains by name and/or street address (also email?)

6) Could be used to find general links/relationships between partners and/or competitors (e.g. a large company registering domains to thwart competitors or carry out fake viral marketing).

* Of course the above all rely on the fact the owner hasn't got any whois protection on sensitive domains but still very feasible.

I was just intrigued by this concept, that's all

EDIT: hmm just thought, even more interesting could be the possibility of pairing this up with archived WHOIS info, so you could see all domains a particular registrant currently owns and ever owned in the past.

 

[Dave_Z]

I've gotten worried that someone could use this technology to drive to the house of a LLL.com owner and force him to "give up the goods." Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

Peter

Nothing wrong with expecting the worst. I've read of a internet marketer who
got an unexpected visit at her home by some total stranger who looked up her
domain name's contact details.

If you don't want people finding your information online, then don't post it in
the first place. Or use alternative data, if possible.

Some people just expect too much.

 

[nombre]

I've gotten worried that someone could use this technology to drive to the house of a LLL.com owner and force him to "give up the goods." Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

gives domain jacking a whole new meaning

 

[scandiman]

I've gotten worried that someone could use this technology to drive to the house of a LLL.com owner and force him to "give up the goods." Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

Peter

It's time for a P.O. Box

 

[IconPacks]

What do people think about my suggested uses for this "concept"? would it be something DomainTools would ever consider offering? Could there be a market for the service?