Home addresses to be published online by .uk domain firm Nominet
A policy change by .uk domain company Nominet means "commercial" users will have their details publicly displayed

Nominet, the company which manages the registry of .uk domains, has issued a rule change meaning that domain name owners' home addresses will be published in online search results. Those signing up for the registry must now also agree to display their full names on the company's public database.
Previously Nominet allowed registrars to opt out of having their postal address being shown in search results. That has now changed, according to a post on the firm's website, so that only domain holders who are "non-trading individuals" can opt out.
It goes on to define that any website that uses pay-to-click advertising or trades in any form over the internet will be counted as a business and have its details revealed.
"To opt out, you must be a consumer'" a Nominet employee told blogger Andrew Norton. "[An] individual who has registered and is using the domain name for a purpose unconnected with any business, trade or profession."
Many websites, however, do not fall into this two-tone view of consumerism. A number of blogs contain links to related products or PayPal donation services yet the creator doesn't use the site solely for their profit.
Problems may also arise for those who write from within their industry teachers, footballers and whistleblowers people who would not want their name and address being published for those they work with to find.
Nominet told the Guardian: "We will review our guidelines and policy around privacy opt-outs, as we want a sensible approach that is sensitive to those who rightly wish to keep their details private, and fair to consumers who expect to know who they are dealing with. We will implement any changes we consider necessary."
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
A survey by EMC revealed that 59 per cent of people in the UK believe that their privacy is fading away, while 84 per cent expect it to be gone completely within the next five years. People want the benefits of technology without the sacrificing their own privacy, the survey's conclusion read.
The decision by Nominet could cause the .uk domain name harm in the future, as those looking to legitimise their websites with an official suffix look elsewhere.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continues
News Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
By Ross Kelly
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPT
Opinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
By Ross Kelly
-
India’s new data protection bill continues to “facilitate state surveillance”
News Although data localisation requirements have now been removed, it’s down to the Indian government to select which countries data is allowed to be sent to
By Zach Marzouk
-
LinkedIn denies data breach that reportedly exposed 700 million user records
News Report claims 'breach' led to profiles belonging to 92% of LinkedIn users being put up for sale on a popular hacker forum
By Bobby Hellard
-
Privacy campaigners rally against "illegal" Clearview AI data scraping
News The notorious facial recognition firm claims to have a database of more than three billion images scraped from social media sites
By Bobby Hellard
-
Germany bans Facebook from using WhatsApp data over GDPR concerns
News Hamburg's data protection commissioner issues three-month ban days before the app's new privacy policy rolls out
By Bobby Hellard
-
Facebook faces 'mass action' lawsuit over data breach
News Digital Rights Ireland is urging European Facebook users who have been affected to sign up
By Zach Marzouk
-
Irish data watchdog to investigate Facebook data leak
News The regulator believes that Facebook may have infringed ‘one or more’ GDPR provisions following apparent leak of 533 million user records
By Sabina Weston
-
EU might force tech giants to share data with smaller rivals
News The Digital Services Act draft also suggests that firms may be banned from giving their own services preferential treatment
By Sabina Weston
-
Irish data watchdog orders Facebook to halt EU user data transfers to the US
News Nick Clegg suggests cancelling its transfer mechanism could cause chaos for businesses and the global economy
By Bobby Hellard