Hey there,

i have a domain (.de-domain, registered with netcup) that i would like to use for my email-provider, but i am hesitant.

Why i am hesitant: I don’t want that people might be able to find out my name/adress that is registered with my domain. If some service does not need my personal data, i simply don’t want them to be able to access them. It’s as simple as that.

I read that a whois-check could reveal my data, but the situation seems more complicated. At least, i couldn’t reveal my personal data with a whois-check.

Why i would like to use my own domain: I want to be more independent from my mail-provider.

I am not that tech-savvy, so sorry if this is a silly question. I tried searching, but didn’t found anything, probably because keywords like domain bring up lots of different topics.

  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
    1·
    5 months ago

    Generally domain registrars have whois privacy so that when a whois is requested they find out who the registrar is but they don’t find out who owns the domain itself.

    So they would get that you host your domain with, say, pork bun, for example, but they would not be able to get any farther than that without contacting pork bun as like an agency or something.

  • waigl@lemmy.world
    0·
    5 months ago

    Domain registration information can usually be found out somehow, although these days you have to jump through some additional hoops to get it, and those hoops are designed to discourage automated lookups. The privacy gains you get from hosting your own email server, though, are massive and IMHO more than worth it. If you are not hosting your own mail server, then the most you can expect from having your own domain is nicer looking email addresses. Depending on what your hosting provider supports you might also get unlimited aliases, maybe even regex aliases, which can be very helpful when handing out mail addresses to various companies and internet services.

    If your main concern is that your email address should not be associated with your real identity, your best bet is to just use a VPN to connect to any large email hoster, like ProtonMail. (Obviously don’t use Proton Mail if Proton is also your VPN.)