Privacy Policy

Introduction

Vianames offers domain name registration and value-added services that helps businesses and people establish internet addresses. We know that you're concerned with privacy on the Internet, and we've taken many steps to help safeguard your online information and protect your privacy.

Vianames is committed to protecting your privacy and to ensuring that you are in control of the information that we maintain about you. The Vianames privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") explains what we will and will not do with your personal information. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "personal information" means individually identifiable information about a user collected online, including a user's first and last name, home or other physical address, e-mail address or telephone number.

Vianames's policies and procedures are based on the eight internationally recognized privacy principles issued in 1980 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its Guidelines for Fair Information Practices. The principles pertaining to fair information practices in use at Vianames are as follows:

• Use Limitation
• Individual Participation
• Security Safeguards
• Openness
• Collection Limitation
• Purpose Specification
• Data Quality
• Accountability
• GDPR Policy
• California Consumer Privacy Act

Use Limitation

Vianames treats your personal information as confidential and does not disclose it or use it except as permitted by you, as described in this privacy policy, or as required by law, subpoena, court order, legal process or a warrant.

Vianames will use your contact information, including email address, telephone number and/or postal address to communicate with you at various times, including, but not limited to: registration expirations, whois data accuracy reminders, transfers and marketing communications. You may opt out of marketing communications but not other communications required to process your order or under our Registrar Accreditation Agreement with ICANN.

If we are served with a civil subpoena seeking personal information about a Vianames user, we will use reasonable efforts to notify the specified user of the request prior to disclosure of such personal information, so as to allow the user the opportunity to oppose the subpoena.

Vianames will not provide your e-mail address, name, or other personal identifiers to merchants or marketers without your specific prior permission. Vianames will follow the instructions you indicate through the Vianames software interface.

Vianames may engage third parties to perform analysis or data processing of our databases that involves access to your personal information, in order to better provide you with the services for which you joined. If Vianames does so, it will ensure that such parties are contractually required to keep the information confidential and not to use it in any way other than as is necessary to perform their work for Vianames.

Individual Participation

As a Vianames customer, you have access to, and appropriate control over, the data that Vianames maintains about you, via our online management page or through chat or via [email protected].

A request to revise or edit your personally identifiable information may not be accommodated if it would result in incorrect information. Requests for deletion of certain key information, such as e-mail address, may require closing the account.

Most requests for access to personal data are processed within seconds of being made through the Vianames software Web interface. Some requests may take up to a few days to process, and the results may be delivered by e-mail.

Any other questions should be addressed to [email protected].

Information about a customer may be withheld or exempted from deletion if this is required by law or is part of a fraud investigation.

Unsubscribe Procedures

All users may at any time opt-out of our marketing by clicking on the opt-out link we include in every email we send.

Security Safeguards

We ensure information quality by employing advanced technology to protect our users' data. We also have well-defined employee and network partner practices that protect the integrity of and access to our users' information.

At Vianames we employ security techniques and well-defined employee practices to ensure that data is protected from unauthorized access and use. We hold our employees and network partners accountable for maintaining the privacy and integrity of our users' information. Vianames provides ongoing training programs that are designed to keep our employees and network partners informed of our Privacy Policies.

Vianames may engage employees, contractors, and other companies to perform work that involves access to personal information. If Vianames does so, it will ensure that such parties are contractually required to keep the information confidential and not to use it in any way other than as is necessary to perform their work for Vianames.

Vianames works to reduce the likelihood of loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction, but it is impossible to eliminate this possibility completely.

We conduct internal and external audits to determine the effectiveness of our compliance with our Privacy Policy. Our Vianames-approved network partners are contractually and legally obligated to follow agreed-upon privacy practices. If a Vianames user feels that they have experienced a violation of these privacy policies, they should contact us at:

Openness

Vianames has a general policy of openness about developments, practices and policies with respect to personal data. Vianames states in detail what personal data it collects and why it collects it.

Vianames's Web server may log key information about any visitor to the Vianames website (both users and non-users), including the following elements:

• The URL of the page requested
• The time and date of the request
• The make and version of the web browser being used
• The version and type of your operating system
• The "Referrer" (the URL where you clicked on a link to get to Vianames's site)
• The IP address where a copy of the page you requested is to be sent for display by your browser

We use this information in aggregate to get a better picture of where our visitors come from and how to plan for our future needs.

WHOIS and RDAP Publication

What is WHOIS and RDAP?

WHOIS is a legacy protocol that has been used for decades to look up information about domain name registrations. RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is the modern replacement for WHOIS, mandated by ICANN as the standard way to access domain registration data. Both protocols serve the same purpose: making certain domain registration information publicly available.

What Information is Published in WHOIS/RDAP?

Unless you purchase our optional WHOIS Privacy Service, the following information about your domain registration is publicly available:

• Registrant Contact: Your name, organization (if applicable), email address, phone number, and postal address
• Administrative Contact: Name, email, phone, and address of the administrative contact
• Technical Contact: Name, email, phone, and address of the technical contact
• Domain Information: Domain name, nameservers, registration date, expiration date, and last update date
• Registrar Information: OrbitFour's name, IANA ID (3873), and contact information
• Domain Status: Current status codes (e.g., clientTransferProhibited, serverDeleteProhibited)

WHOIS Privacy Service

To protect your personal information from public view, we offer an optional WHOIS Privacy Service for $8.99 per year per domain. When you enable this service:

• Your personal contact information is replaced with OrbitFour's privacy service contact information
• Emails sent to the privacy contact are automatically forwarded to your real email address
• Your name, address, phone number, and email are hidden from public WHOIS/RDAP queries
• The domain name, registration dates, nameservers, and registrar information remain public

Learn more about WHOIS Privacy Service →

Why is This Information Published?

ICANN, the organization that oversees the domain name system, requires registrars to make registration data publicly available through WHOIS and RDAP. The purposes include:

• Transparency: Allowing anyone to determine who owns a domain name
• Accountability: Enabling contact with domain owners for legitimate purposes
• Technical Operations: Providing contact information for DNS and network issues
• Legal Compliance: Supporting law enforcement, trademark protection, and dispute resolution
• Consumer Protection: Helping identify and combat fraud, spam, and cybersquatting

When Privacy Protection Does Not Apply

Even with WHOIS Privacy Service enabled, your actual registration information may be disclosed in the following circumstances:

1. Court Orders and Legal Process: When required by valid court orders, subpoenas, or legal process
2. Law Enforcement Requests: In response to legitimate law enforcement investigations
3. Dispute Resolution: During ICANN UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) or URS (Uniform Rapid Suspension) proceedings
4. Registry Operator Requirements: When the registry operator for your domain's TLD requires disclosure
5. ICANN Compliance: When ICANN requires information for compliance or policy purposes
6. Abuse Prevention: When necessary to investigate or prevent illegal activity, spam, or abuse
7. Verification Purposes: When you fail to respond to our WHOIS accuracy verification emails

RDAP: The Modern Standard

OrbitFour operates an RDAP server at rdap.orbitfour.com that complies with ICANN's Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) requirements. RDAP offers several advantages over legacy WHOIS:

• Structured Data: Returns data in JSON format that is machine-readable and easier to process
• Internationalization: Full support for international domain names (IDNs) and Unicode characters
• Standardized: Follows RFC 7483 and other IETF standards for consistency across registrars
• HTTPS: Uses secure HTTPS connections instead of plain text TCP port 43
• Better Privacy Controls: Supports tiered access with different levels of data visibility

Your Consent to Publication

By registering a domain name with OrbitFour, you acknowledge and consent to:

1. Collection: The collection of your registration data as required for domain registration
2. Publication: The publication of this data in publicly accessible WHOIS and RDAP databases
3. Transfer: The transfer of this data to the registry operator and other third parties as required by ICANN policies
4. Retention: The retention of this data for the duration of your domain registration plus any required retention period

You can protect your privacy by purchasing our WHOIS Privacy Service, which will replace your personal information with our privacy service contact information in public queries.

Data Accuracy Requirements

ICANN requires that all domain registrants maintain accurate and up-to-date contact information. You must:

• Provide accurate, reliable contact information when registering a domain
• Update your information within 7 days of any change
• Respond to WHOIS accuracy verification emails within 15 days (failure to respond may result in domain suspension)

These requirements apply even if you use WHOIS Privacy Service. We must have your accurate information on file, even though it is not published publicly.

How to Access RDAP Data

Anyone can query domain registration information through our RDAP service:

curl https://rdap.orbitfour.com/rdap/domain/example.com

This will return a JSON response with registration data for the domain, subject to privacy service settings.

Questions About WHOIS/RDAP?

If you have questions about WHOIS/RDAP publication, privacy protection, or data accuracy requirements, please contact us at [email protected] or review our additional resources:

• Domain Registration Agreement - Full terms of service
• Registrant Rights and Benefits - Your rights as a domain registrant
• WHOIS Privacy Service Terms - Privacy protection details