(Last Modified August 24, 2025)
Trustname operates as a domain registrar committed to protecting user privacy and freedom of speech, offering robust protection through a unique multi-jurisdictional privacy protection service. Although Trustname is designed for anyone who values online security and privacy, the use of our services for harmful or seriously illegal activities is strictly prohibited.
Key Takeaways
- Exceptional Privacy – Your data stays safe with us. If anyone ever wants access to the domain owner or hosting details, they’d need court orders from three different jurisdictions - the USA, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Estonia at the same time. We call it the Bulletproof Privacy Service.
- Free Speech with Clear Limits – Trustname disregards US DMCA notices, but strictly prohibits activities that we classify as hardcore illegal, such as selling weapons or drugs containing opioids, or distributing child abuse material.
- Standard Expiration Policy – Domains are expensive to recover after a 30-day grace period and can be permanently lost to the public if renewal is missed.
- Total User Responsibility – You are fully responsible for the content and any legal matters related to your domain. To help minimize potential risks, we recommend registering domains with our Suggested Proxy Contact as the default option.
- Obey the Rules – Breaking the rules can lead to service termination, loss of all paid fees, and the takedown of all your associated domains.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Short Version
No matter the size or nature of your business, whether you’re at the helm of a giant corporation, the webmaster of a personal blog network, an online health supplement pharmacy, a video streaming service, or a small local business owner, as long as you value privacy, Trustname is the place to be.
Trustnames stance is simple
The Internet should be free for all, and everyone should have freedom of speech online. However, we recognize that some individuals exploit the freedom of the internet to promote illegal content, and we strongly condemn this practice.
At Trustname, our goal is to make the internet and hopefully, the world a better and safer place. While profit isn’t our primary focus, we still need to earn enough to provide strong legal protection for our users and team against scammers and other malicious individuals. We created Trustname to support developers, activists, journalists, NGOs, and anyone else working for the greater good.
Scamming people for money or distributing dangerous drugs like opioids does nothing to improve the world, so we will never protect that kind of content.
Follow our simple rules to access a powerful domain management portal backed by robust privacy protection. Trustname offers a one-of-a-kind Two-Tier Domain Privacy service that replaces your personal contact information in the Whois database with proxy addresses in two encryption stages, unlike other domain registrars that only encrypt once.
We are committed to strictly protecting your personal information and will never share your details unless compelled to do so by court orders in three jurisdictions simultaneously: the United States, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Estonia. We understand that your domain is easily the most essential part of your brand online, and Trustname provides the most fortified vault for your domain.
What makes our signature two-tier domain privacy protection truly top-tier? Besides getting a proxy of a proxy to hide your details, we use security companies in two regions to mask your contact information. The results? Anyone looking to obtain your domain name details will need to obtain court orders from the two regions where our privacy service providers are located (the United States and Saint Kitts), as well as from Estonia, where we are based.
Trustname makes it incredibly hard to find your domain registration contact details (even legally).
We decided to set up this Tri-Region hurdle to access your domain name details for good reason. Let’s see how -
- The USA – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), major registries, payment processors, and IT service providers are based in the United States. It’s incredibly easy for anyone to get a court order in the U.S. for access to contact information linked to domains involved in illegal activities such as the sale of firearms, drugs, or the distribution of child abuse material. Simply put, don’t engage in any of these activities.
- Saint Kitts and Nevis – Our Whois privacy partner, Harakiri, is located in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Obtaining such a court order in the Caribbean Islands is logistically challenging, as there are no direct flights to Nevis; the applicant may need to arrange private transportation. That’s exactly why we chose this location for your domain protection. Tip: Check with your travel agent or contact Royal Caribbean for assistance.
- Estonia – And then finally, Estonia, where Trustname is located. Anyone requesting access to a domain name’s information must obtain an official order from a court in Estonia.
We deliberately established our headquarters and security partners in three different regions because if we were all in the same region, a single court order might be sufficient to obtain your domain information but we are smarter than that.
Why Is Trustname In Europe?
Since Trustname is headquartered in Estonia, Europe, if the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - a law that has caused many webmasters to lose their domains issues a takedown notice on your domain, we’ll turn a deaf ear to them.
We are not bound by a DMCA takedown notice since it is issued in the US and we are outside the US’s jurisdiction. Like Elon Musk, we have a strong aversion to individuals who exploit the DMCA, as we believe it lacks legal authority for the vast majority of the world’s population living outside the United States.
"Overzealous DMCA is a plague on humanity"
Just Don't
At Trustname, we proudly side with you during domain disputes; however, to ensure the security of your domain and avoid repetitive complaints that may cause issues, please refrain from engaging in the following activities -
- Spamming - Using your domain name to send unsolicited messages to people in bulk.
- Phishing - Posing as another brand to ride on its reputation and to get information from the brand’s customers.
- Network abuse - hosting viruses, spam, spying, hacking, etc.
- DDoS attacks of any kind - Using an extensive network of computers and devices to overwhelm the traffic-handling capacity of a website or app.
- C&C nodes, botnets or bots
- High Yield Investment Programs (HYIPs) or Ponzi schemes - Creating a non-existent enterprise that pays quick returns to early investors from money spent by later investors.
- Selling weapons, drugs containing opioids or the distribution of child abuse material.
Many of these illegal activities are exactly what we strive to protect our customers’ domains from at Trustname, so kindly steer clear of them, and you’d find a safe haven with us you’d also be making it easier for us to protect your brand and personal information.
The Full Version
As our valued customer, Trustname is committed to you and all the digital assets you entrust to us. However, in extreme scenarios such as using your website to host illegal content (that we have confirmed after thorough investigations) and getting court orders from all three jurisdictions, Trustname may be forced to take some of these actions as a last resort -
- We may stop providing our services to you and kindly ask you to transfer your domains out of Trustname, rather than denying you access to your domain.
- Your domain management account may be closed.
- We may identify and close any accounts that may be associated with yours due to extreme rule violations and…
- You could lose any money you’ve paid us, including your topped-up wallet balance.
For Non-Customers
We will never take any action against a domain name simply because someone filed a complaint - even if your report indicates a violation of our terms. We will only be obligated to take action when we get the relevant court orders. You can find more details in our Abuse and Takedown Policy.
We also share stories involving fake takedown requests or legal stuff involving Trustname on our blog to help webmasters like you learn how to protect their domains and stay ahead of bad actors. However, we will always hide the domain name to protect our client’s privacy. You can learn more about this in the Golden Principle of Self-Doubt.
Reporting Abuse?
Have something to report? Review our abuse reporting process and fill out the Abuse Form. You can also email us at abuse@trustname.com; however, you will still be required to complete the full form with all necessary details so that we can investigate your report.
TrustnameS Rules And Terms Of Use
At Trustname, we value transparency and fairness in our services. These rules outline our expectations for our customers to ensure a safe web for everyone -
- Payment Terms – On Trustname, you’ll need to make payments for services such as domain registration or hosting upfront. Your domain name will only be registered and tied to your account after we receive your payment. For Bitcoin payments, you’ll need to wait for confirmation.
- Unpaid Fees – If your renewal fees are not paid, we offer a grace period of up to 30 days, during which you can renew your valuable domains at the standard price. However, after that, another registrant may be able to claim them. Access to your DNS settings for your domain name may also be disconnected, especially if it’s the only service you’re using from us. You can find more details in What Happens When My Domain Expires?
- Automatic Billing – If you subscribed for auto-renewals while purchasing a service, we’ll charge your card for renewals. We advise customers to set up auto-renewals so their domains don’t expire. However, you can always turn off your auto-renewal in your settings - not all companies offer this option, but we do. We understand that retrieving an expired domain is significantly more difficult, and it’s safer to leave your auto renewals on, but we don’t require you to.
- Your Responsibility – You own your domains and websites, and you have complete control over how they are used. If your domain name and websites are involved in activities that violate the law, Trustname will bear no responsibility, and we will take action we deem necessary.
- Advocacy and Legal Compliance – We support our clients and strictly follow Estonian law. We will always require a local court order, subpoena, or warrant before taking action and will notify you of any requests made to your domain name, unless we are legally prohibited from doing so.
- Our Famous Two-Tier Privacy Protection (2TP) – Your privacy is our #1 concern. We only disclose your domain contact information in response to a court order, subpoena, or warrant issued simultaneously in three jurisdictions: the United States, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Estonia.
- Abuse and Enforcement – Trustname strictly prohibits internet abuse. If we detect spamming, phishing, involvement in botnets, launching DDoS attacks, or any other form of network abuse, we will be compelled to shut down your services and report the incident to the relevant authorities and security experts. We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in cases of DDoS abuse detected within our system.
- Fraud Prevention – For fraudulent activities, such as using stolen credit cards, initiating a chargeback without contacting our support team, or bouncing a check, we reserve the right to delist your services and may contact the relevant authorities.
- Guilt-by-Association – If one of your domains or websites engages in illegal activity and violates our specified rules, we’ll take down the culprit domain and may also take down any other domains you have with us, even if they’re under different names or accounts.
- Scam Department of Pre-Crime & De-Risk – We reserve the right to terminate your services if investigations show that you’ve engaged in fraudulent activity. For example, attempting to register a close-match domain intended for phishing (e.g., using the ‘paypal-login-reset.online’ domain to scam PayPal customers) will result in your domain being de-listed immediately. We also reserve the right to refuse or terminate your services if we believe that your activities pose a risk to us or our customers. Refunds issued under these circumstances will deduct any incurred costs.
- Valid Contact Information– It’s crucial to provide accurate contact data, especially email addresses, when you purchase our services. If you prefer not to have your information publicly displayed in the Whois database, you can use our signature two-tier Whois privacy protection service (2TP).
- Providing false contact information violates our rules and the requirements of ICANN for truthful Whois information.
- However, you can enable our Two-Tier Domain Privacy Protection, which utilizes privacy proxies and Whois privacy protection services from Harakiri (Perfect Privacy LLC) and WHOISPPS (Whois Privacy Protection Service LLC) to mask your details from the public.
- Updated Account Information – Whenever any issues arise or actions are required from you, we will need to reach you, especially via email. If we can’t contact you through the details you provided, we may need to make decisions without you. However, as a general rule, we will always contact you before taking any action, such as imposing restrictions (which are incredibly unlikely).
- Payment Terms for Monthly Services – For services that are billed monthly, automatic renewal is required. We use Stripe for credit card payments, ensuring your card information isn’t stored on our servers. PayPal subscriptions and crypto payments require sufficient funds in your account. Bitcoin payments are processed through our payment gateway, while Coinpayments handle other cryptocurrencies (altcoins and stablecoins).
- Data Retention Policy – We keep your information for 3 years after your last paid service ends. However, your websites, emails, and backed-up data may be deleted 45 days after they become overdue - 15 days after the 30-day grace period.
- Email Communications – Trustname will send you emails for renewal notices, invoices, system status updates, important network event notifications, and ICANN notifications. You can manage your email notification preferences in your email settings.
- Adhesion Contracts – As an ICANN-accredited registrar, we adhere to specific rules and regulations set by the governing body, including the ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and, for some domains, the CoreHUB Registration Agreement.
- Designated Agent – By selecting Trustname as your designated agent, you authorize us to handle your domain registration changes according to the ICANN Transfer Policy.
- Compliance with the Law – Simply put, HYIPs, Ponzi schemes, theft, and other illegal activities are strictly prohibited and will result in the suspension of your account.
- Non-Aggression Principle – We adhere to the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP) and will shut down sites involved in harmful activities like child exploitation or promoting hate groups like the Nazis or the KKK. By registering your domain with Trustname, you agree to these terms and promise to only host content that promotes voluntaryism and the progress it represents in human society.
- Free Speech Zone – At Trustname, we support free speech. However, while we defend every person’s right to speak the truth, we won’t support harmful content. Harmful content violates the NAP.
- Responsibility for User-Generated Content – If you’re a service provider hosting user-generated content, we recommend that you address any abuse complaints within 24 hours of our notification. Depending on the nature and the validity of these complaints about the content being generated on your platform, failing to resolve them may result in service termination.
- Filesharing and BitTorrent Sites – If you operate file-sharing or BitTorrent sites, DMCA notices don’t apply to us. However, if complaints are made within the region whose jurisdiction we fall under, failing to resolve them may result in a court order and lead to action taken against your domain. Manage these requests promptly to avoid issues.
- Online Pharmacies – Websites selling drugs online must meet at least one of the following requirements: possess a valid pharmacy license for any country to which they ship, or be approved by an online pharmacy association, such as PharmacyChecker, LegitScript, the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, or a similar alternative body. We recognize the importance of patients in developing countries having access to life-saving medicines. We support online pharmacies shipping anti-HIV or malaria medicines or even selling generic sildenafil to patients in need - sexual health is a basic human need. We won’t take any action against a legitimate online pharmacy simply because a complaint was made by another company that is threatened by their lower prices.
- DDoS Protection Policy – We offer DDoS protection; however, our services are not intended for use as a budget DDoS guard. If you face a DDoS attack, contact us first for assistance. Deliberate misuse of our DDoS protection may result in termination of service.
- No refunds on domain names and associated services – We do not offer refunds for domain names and associated services, and no exceptions will be made. Make sure to double-check the services you purchase and the spellings of domain names before completing a payment.
- Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) – Our SLAs ensure your satisfaction and a money-back guarantee for SSL certificates and particular services under certain conditions. If you decide these services are not for you, we will give a full refund for annual payments. For annual services, we’ll refund 3 months’ fees. Additionally, the Ultimate Uptime Anycast DNS (Premium DNS) comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If you experience any downtime, you receive complimentary access for that month. To learn more about our commitment to you, see Why Your Domain Name Is Safe with Us.
- Domain Expiration Cycle – Be aware of your domain's expiration date. Here’s the timeline to keep in mind:
- During the Grace period (1–30 days after expiration), you can still renew your domain name at the standard rate or transfer it out.
- In the Redemption period (31–60 days after expiration or the next 30 days after the Grace period ends), you can still renew your domain, but you’ll need to pay a higher fee, usually over $129.
- If you don’t renew your domain during the redemption period, your domain name moves on to Pending Delete status. After the Pending-Delete period (61–65 days after expiration or the next 5 days after the Redemption period ends), the domain is released back to the public. It can be acquired by a new registrant.
- Once a domain reaches the Pending-Delete status, it’s too late to recover it. You will have to compete with other bidders once again as if you were buying a new domain.
- If your domain name is particularly valuable, there’s a high chance that it will be quickly taken off the market by “drop catchers” once it’s available. In summary, don’t let your high-value domain name expire because there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get it again. Keep your payment information up to date and always set up an iCal feed for your domain expirations.
- Zombie Domains – We may redirect traffic from domains we considered “abandoned” in various ways. Abandoned domains may include those that are not associated with a user but are listed on our name servers, expired domains, web addresses using non-functional vanity nameservers that point back to us, and domains suspended for rule violations.
- Crypto Payments – Refunds for crypto payments will be issued by check in fiat currency and mailed to the account holder’s address. For bank account transfers, we will need to perform complete KYC verifications before we grant your refunds.
- Support – We provide support to our customers and handle support requests in English only. Legal documents must be translated into English by a certified translator and notarized before submission.
- Non-Disparagement – By accepting our terms, you agree not to publicly disparage Trustname, ensuring fair feedback and preventing harmful content.
- Feedback Protocol – If you are ever dissatisfied with any of our services, please inform Trustname so we can resolve the issue and make it right where possible, rather than posting a negative review on review sites. We can’t address issues we’re unaware of.
Any legal threats made against Trustname will result in the termination of your services, and we will not be obligated to respond. As an internet service provider (ISP) and distributor, legal proceedings must be initiated through an Estonian lawyer.
While there aren’t too many, we do have connections with English-speaking lawyers in Estonia. If you ever need one, feel free to contact us for more information.
Domain Privacy. That's Trustname.
General Disclaimer
By using any of Trustname’s services, you consent to bearing full responsibility over your digital assets, and we are not liable for any issues that arise, and we make no guarantees. You agree to indemnify us from any claims or liabilities that arise from using any of Trustnames' services.