Domain Protection
Tidy Names analyses your domain's registration data to check whether key protections are in place. These protections guard against unauthorised transfers, accidental expiry, and personal data exposure.
Protection Checks
Four checks are performed using RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) data:
1. WHOIS Privacy
Checks whether the domain registrant's personal information (name, address, phone, email) is hidden behind a privacy proxy. Exposed WHOIS data can lead to spam, phishing, and social engineering attacks.
- Good - registrant data is redacted or uses a privacy service
- Action needed - personal information may be publicly visible
2. Transfer Lock
Checks for the clientTransferProhibited EPP status code, which prevents the domain from being transferred away from the current registrar without first removing the lock.
- Good - transfer lock is active
- Action needed - domain could potentially be transferred without your knowledge
3. Registry Transfer Protection
Checks for serverTransferProhibited, a registry-level lock that provides an additional layer of transfer protection beyond the registrar-level lock.
- Good - registry-level transfer protection is active
- Action needed - only registrar-level protection is in place (this is normal for many domains - not all registries support this)
4. Expiration Protection
Checks for delete-prohibit EPP status codes and auto-renew settings that prevent accidental domain loss when the registration expires.
- Good - delete protection and/or auto-renew is enabled
- Action needed - domain could expire and be deleted without safeguards
Viewing Domain Protection
Domain Overview
Each domain's overview page shows a protection summary card with all four checks and their status at a glance. Click the card to go to the full analysis.
Domain Protection Tab
On a domain's detail page, click the Domain Protection tab to see:
- Overall protection status banner
- Individual check cards with Good or Action Needed badges
- Detailed explanations for each check
- Raw EPP status codes at the bottom for reference
EPP Status Codes
EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) status codes are standardised codes that indicate the current state and restrictions on a domain. Common codes include:
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
clientTransferProhibited | Registrar-level transfer lock |
serverTransferProhibited | Registry-level transfer lock |
clientDeleteProhibited | Registrar-level delete protection |
serverDeleteProhibited | Registry-level delete protection |
clientUpdateProhibited | Prevents changes to domain settings |
ok | No restrictions - standard active domain |
Improving Protection
If any checks show "Action needed", contact your registrar to enable the relevant protections:
- WHOIS Privacy - most registrars offer free privacy protection that you can enable from your account settings
- Transfer Lock - typically found in your domain's security settings at the registrar
- Auto-Renew - enable in your registrar's billing or domain settings to prevent accidental expiry
Next Steps
- Email Security - check SPF, DMARC, and DKIM configuration
- Expiry Alerts - get notified before domains expire