The WhoIs Internet database hosts a variety of information on who owns a domain name.  A domain name is the web address you enter to visit a web site.  It typically begins with "www" and ends with ".com" or some other variant, such as ".net" or ".org" but can even include suffixes to denote the country the web site originates from.  WhoIs serves as a focal point to find out basic information about a website like who owns it, when it was registered and when the name expires.  It can also give you contact information to get in touch with those who own the domain name.

The easiest way to find contact information from a WhoIs entry is to visit a web-based WhoIs service, like WhoIs.sc. Enter in the web address and hit Search, from there, the WhoIs entry will pop up. Immediately, scroll down and you will see if the entry is private or public. If it is private, the web host's information will be entered in as opposed to more personal information.

If the entry is public, the person who registered the website will list their name, address, phone number and e-mail address. In some cases, even a fax number or secondary contract information is included. You can then take this information and contact the person in charge of a given website.

There are two ways to exclude your data from a WhoIs entry.  If you registered your domain name through your web host, they control what is entered in the WhoIs database.  You can send them an e-mail or contact them via support to request a generic entry to be placed under your domain name; this was exclude your data from being seen by the public.  If you registered your domain name through a third party company, like GoDaddy, you will have to login and change the information to private via their website.