What is WHOIS?
Understand WHOIS lookups, what data is shown for .ch and .li domains, and how Swiss privacy regulations apply.
What is WHOIS?
WHOIS is a public protocol that lets anyone look up information about a registered domain name. When you query a domain's WHOIS record, you can typically see who registered it, when it was registered, when it expires, and which nameservers it uses.
Think of it as a public phone book for domain names.
What does a WHOIS record show?
A typical WHOIS response includes:
- Domain name — The domain being queried (e.g.,
example.ch). - Registrant — The person or organization that owns the domain.
- Registrar — The company through which the domain was registered (e.g., YourWebTech).
- Registration date — When the domain was first registered.
- Expiration date — When the current registration period ends.
- Nameservers — The DNS servers authoritative for the domain.
- Domain status — Whether the domain is active, locked, expired, or in another registry state.
WHOIS and Swiss privacy
Switzerland has strong data protection laws, and the .ch and .li registries (operated by SWITCH) apply specific rules to WHOIS data:
- Individuals — For domains registered to private individuals, personal contact details (name, address, phone, email) are not shown in public WHOIS results. Only the registrar name and technical data (nameservers, dates, status) are visible.
- Organizations — For domains registered to companies or organizations, the organization name and some contact details may be visible in WHOIS results, in line with Swiss regulations.
This means that if you register a .ch or .li domain as an individual through YWT, your personal information is already protected by default. You do not need to purchase a separate WHOIS privacy add-on.
Swiss WHOIS privacy applies automatically for individual registrants. There is nothing extra to configure.
Using the YWT WHOIS lookup
YWT provides a built-in WHOIS lookup tool. You can search for any .ch or .li domain to see its public registration data — useful for checking if a domain is available or finding out when an existing registration expires.
Why WHOIS matters
- Before registering — Check if a domain is taken and when it might expire.
- Troubleshooting — Verify that your nameservers and registrar are set correctly.
- Trust and transparency — Visitors or partners can confirm who operates a website.
Next steps
- Perform a WHOIS lookup — Search for any .ch or .li domain.
- Domain lifecycle — Understand registration, expiration, and renewal.
- DNSSEC — Add authentication to your domain's DNS responses.