I got some domain names to register and every place Im looking at is asking me to upload a photo id because I live in a dystopian hellscape.... Anyway, I figured I'd ask around here and the selfhosted communities for some recommendations on privacy respecting registrars. I appreciate yall!

EDIT: Thanks friends, I ended up going with njalla. I really appreciate the suggestions. Stay safe out there.

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[–] 18 points 3 months ago

I was just looking into this. My strategy was to see where privacy-conscious people actually put their money. For example, the GrapheneOS project uses Porkbun.

I now use Porkbun and have no complaints. My requirements were to be cheap, have WHOIS privacy, and support DNSSEC.

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    Try njal.la

    I registered my domain through them, and they didn't even ask for my name.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (8 children)
  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    I am using them because I was able to pay with Monero, which is incredibly important to me.

    They're not as cheap as my previous domain registrar, but my previous domain registrar did not accept Monero, and that wasn't something I could deal with.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (4 children)

    How would you say they compare with https://njal.la/? I have heard that https://njal.la/ you do not actually own the domain. Is the same true for https://incognet.io/?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    Considering that you don't have to actually give them a name or anything, I'm betting that's probably the case.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago
    [–] 10 points 4 months ago (7 children)
  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    I had to use an id here last month

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    No shit?! For porkbun?? On an existing account? I'm in a different state as they're in Oregon, so maybe the laws are different, but I hadn't heard anything about them implementing ID stuff 😮‍💨

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    Yea it was a brand new account so maybe existing ones are grandfathered in. Also was using a VPN/linux so maybe it flagged me as heightened risk 🤷🏼‍♀️ Went through adding randomish details and had to go back through and put in the right stuff instead haha

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    From: https://kb.porkbun.com/article/225-why-porkbun-id-verification

    At last it's only long enough to verify and not using 3rd party like Persona.

    "To make sure the Porkbun ID verification process is secure on our end, we only retain ID verification submissions for 15 days to provide enough time for them to be reviewed and processed. After that, submissions are deleted and Porkbun no longer associates any of this process with your account, other than that you passed a Veriff ID verification."

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    I use Namecheap, I don’t know much about their privacy but they didn’t ask for photo id.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago

    I like to use Swiss registrars.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    If your only privacy concern is not uploading an ID, I’d recommend Cloudflare for the low cost and great platform. You don’t have to use your real name when signing up and can use a virtual card or something to pay.

    If you need more anonymity, then I’d go Njalla - but note the other comment here explaining that they truly own the domain instead of you. However, I used them for years and never had an issue.

    Depends what you’re using the domain for and how much privacy you need.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)