When you register a domain name, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requires your domain name registrar to submit your personal contact information to the WHOIS database. Once your listing appears in this online directory, it is publicly available to anyone who chooses to check domain names using the WHOIS search tool.

There are a variety of third parties who may check domain names in the WHOIS database, including:

* Individuals check domain names for expiration dates
* Registrars check domain names when transferring ownership
* Authorities check domain names when investigating criminal activity

As an accredited domain names registrar, Network Solutions® must comply with the WHOIS database requirements set forth by ICANN. However, in an effort to ensure that customers feel comfortable with the visibility of their personal information, Network Solutions offers three options for your WHOIS database listing.

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names:domainnameswebaddress.com mail.domainnameswebaddress.com webhosting.domainnameswebaddress.com can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine. Usually, all of the machines on a given Network will have the same thing as the right-hand portion of their Domain Names (domainnameswebaddress.com in the examples above). It is also possible for a Domain Name to exist but not be connected to an actual machine. This is often done so that a group or business can have an Internet e-mail address without having to establish a real Internet site. In these cases, some real Internet machine must handle the mail on behalf of the listed Domain Name.