Quick answer
When does Sealname disclose who owns a domain?
Sealname, a private domain name registration service paid in crypto, gives your data out only on a Panamanian court order. A foreign lawyer, a private company or a foreign government must go through Panamanian legal process. The exceptions are ICANN duties of every registrar: urgent requests (threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, child exploitation), trademark disputes under the UDRP, data escrow and compliance checks. We tell you before any disclosure, unless the Panamanian court order forbids it.
Disclosure policy at a glance
| The rule | Your data only goes out on a Panamanian court order — except urgent requests that ICANN rules require registrars to answer: an imminent threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, or child exploitation |
|---|---|
| Foreign lawyers and private companies | Refused. They can go to a Panamanian court, or file a UDRP complaint for a trademark |
| Foreign governments and police | Only through Panamanian legal process, such as an international legal-assistance request granted by a Panamanian court |
| Urgent requests (ICANN rules) | Answered without a court order only for an imminent threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, or child exploitation; only the data needed |
| Trademark disputes | UDRP or URS, an ICANN obligation: the dispute provider receives the registrant details; domain locked within 2 business days |
| Other ICANN duties | Data escrow (a sealed copy, released only if the registrar fails) and ICANN compliance checks |
| Notice to you | Yes: before any disclosure, unless the Panamanian court order forbids it |
| What is disclosed | Only the data the order names, for the domain it names |
| Reported | Every request, granted or refused, in the quarterly transparency report |
| Sold or used for marketing | Never |
What does "only on a Panamanian court order" mean?
It means a letter, a threat or an official-looking email is never enough. Sealname is operated by DomaineGoat LLC, an ICANN-accredited registrar incorporated in Panama, and your data leaves us only when a Panamanian court orders it — apart from the urgent requests and the other duties that ICANN imposes on every registrar, listed below. This is our official policy, decided on 8 October 2026.
- A foreign lawyer writing for a client gets no data from us. The client can go to a Panamanian court.
- A private company, including a brand owner, a platform or a security vendor, gets no data from us outside a court order or a UDRP case.
- A foreign government or police force must use Panamanian legal process: an international legal-assistance request that a Panamanian court grants.
You stay the registrant of record of your domain, unless you choose the paid Registered in our name option, where our company holds it for you and this same policy applies. Our privacy service only replaces your contact details in public WHOIS/RDAP.
Who can get your data, and how
| Who asks | Can they get your data? | What it takes | What we disclose |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Panamanian court | Yes | A valid order that names the domain and the data | Only what the order names: at most the email, the account number, the domains, their settings and the balance — we keep no logs |
| A foreign court, government or police force | Only through Panama | Panamanian legal process, for example an international legal-assistance request granted by a Panamanian court | Only what the Panamanian order names |
| An urgent request under ICANN rules | Yes — ICANN obligation | An imminent threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, or child exploitation, from a sender we can verify | Only the data needed to deal with the danger |
| A foreign lawyer, a private company, a brand owner | No | Refused. A Panamanian court order, or a UDRP complaint for a trademark | Nothing outside those procedures |
| A UDRP or URS dispute provider (trademark disputes) | Yes — ICANN obligation | A complaint filed about the domain | The registrant details of that domain, to the provider and its panel |
| ICANN and the data escrow agent | Yes — accreditation duties | The 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement | Registration data, as the agreement sets |
| The public | Never | — | Our privacy contact, or the registry's redaction |
Why do trademark disputes go through the UDRP?
Because ICANN requires it of every accredited registrar, and we say so plainly. The UDRP is the dispute policy that applies to every generic domain. When a trademark owner files a complaint with an approved provider such as WIPO, the registrar must confirm the registrant to the provider and lock the domain within 2 business days. The provider and its panel then know who the registrant is, and WIPO notes that panels usually name both the privacy service and the registrant in their decision.
If the panel orders a transfer, the registrar applies it, unless you start a court case within the time the policy allows. The URS is a faster procedure for clear-cut trademark cases and works the same way. Every step is on UDRP and disputes.
What else does ICANN require of every registrar?
Two more duties come with ICANN accreditation, and they are the same at every accredited registrar.
- Data escrow. Registrars deposit registration data with an escrow agent (RAA §3.6). The copy stays sealed. It is used only if a registrar loses its accreditation, so that ICANN can move its domains to another registrar under the De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure. It protects your ownership.
- Compliance checks. ICANN Contractual Compliance can check a registrar's records about a domain, for example that an email was verified or that an abuse report was handled.
And one fact of how domains work: the registry of your extension receives the registration data it needs to register the domain. Because we sell only extensions where our privacy service applies, that is our privacy contact, not your details. Where a registry needs a name and address, such as .de or .uk, we register the domain in our name only, so the registry holds our company's details, not yours; .eu, which needs residence, is not sold. Each registry keeps its record under its own national law.
Which urgent requests does Sealname answer without a court order?
Only those that ICANN rules require registrars to answer: an imminent threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, or child exploitation. ICANN's Registration Data Policy, in effect since 21 August 2025 and revised on 12 May 2026, sets these rules for urgent requests, and every accredited registrar must follow them.
We check that the sender is a real authority and that the danger is described, disclose only the data needed to deal with it, and count the request in the transparency report. Anything that is not one of these three cases goes back to the normal rule: a Panamanian court order. The law enforcement page explains how to send an urgent request.
How must a court order reach Sealname?
Send a copy to [email protected] with the subject "Legal request", and serve the original through the Panamanian court. A complete order names:
- The issuing Panamanian court and the case reference.
- The domain, or a short list of domains linked to the same case.
- The data ordered, and the period it covers.
- The deadline, and whether the court forbids telling the customer.
We check that the order is genuine with the court before we act. A foreign authority should not send its own order: it should ask the Panamanian authorities, who bring the request before a Panamanian court. Our law enforcement page explains this route and lists the data that exists.
Which requests does Sealname refuse?
Every request that is not a Panamanian court order or an ICANN duty:
- Letters from foreign lawyers, including cease-and-desist letters and demands to reveal a customer.
- Requests from private companies: brand-protection firms, platforms, security vendors, debt collectors.
- Requests from foreign governments or police sent directly, without Panamanian legal process.
- Bulk requests that list many unrelated domains or ask for "all customers" of a kind.
- Emails that just ask "who owns this domain?".
A refusal is not silence: we answer and explain the route — a Panamanian court, or the UDRP for a trademark. Refused requests are counted in the transparency report too.
Will Sealname tell me before disclosing my data?
Yes. We notify you at your verified email before any disclosure, unless the Panamanian court order forbids it. The notice says which order was received and which data it covers, so you can take legal advice and answer before the court.
In a UDRP or URS case, the dispute provider also sends you the complaint. You can answer it through the procedure, and you can go to court instead of accepting a decision.
Does a complaint get my domain suspended?
No: no takedown on complaint alone. A complaint about copyright, defamation, politics or from a competitor does not get a domain suspended; we need a decision from a Panamanian court (foreign judgments must first be recognised in Panama). The strict exceptions are written openly: phishing, malware, botnets, child sexual abuse material, and fraud that takes money from victims (fake shops, investment and crypto scams, wallet drainers, impersonation of a bank or brand, sale of stolen data) lead to suspension. A suspension is not a disclosure: your data still goes out only under this policy. Details: abuse policy.
How do relay and reveal work for a private domain?
The 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement includes a specification for privacy and proxy services. It requires them to publish their terms, an abuse contact, and their rules for relaying messages, revealing data and ending the service. Here are ours.
- Relay. Messages sent to the contact shown in RDAP are forwarded to your verified email; we never forward spam or bulk mail.
- Reveal. Your data is revealed only on a Panamanian court order, or under the ICANN duties on this page.
- Your choice. You can switch privacy off for a domain yourself, from the client area.
Our abuse contact, as the specification requires, is [email protected].
Why does it matter that you are the registrant of record?
Because it keeps disclosure under published rules. In the proxy model, the service registers the domain in its own name and licenses it to you. Under RAA §3.7.7.3, a registrant that licenses a domain to someone else is liable for its use, unless it discloses the licensee's contact data within 7 days on reasonable evidence of actionable harm. That rule pushes proxy services to hand data to private complainants quickly.
With Sealname's standard service, you are the registrant of record, so no such licence exists, and private complainants have no shortcut. With the paid Registered in our name option, DomaineGoat LLC is the registrant of record; this policy does not change, so a request based on §3.7.7.3 alone is not a Panamanian court order and is refused, and we keep that responsibility ourselves. The difference is explained in WHOIS privacy vs proxy registration. Privacy is included at no extra cost wherever the registry allows it: see the price list.
Disclosure policy: FAQ
Will Sealname give my details to a lawyer who writes to us?
No. A letter from a lawyer, in Panama or abroad, is not a court order. We answer that the route is a Panamanian court, or the UDRP for a trademark dispute, and we count the request in the transparency report. Your data goes out only on a Panamanian court order (or on an urgent request under ICANN rules) or under an ICANN duty.
Can a trademark owner get my details?
Only through the UDRP or URS, or a Panamanian court. Trademark disputes follow the UDRP because ICANN requires it of every registrar: the dispute provider and its panel receive the registrant details of the domain, and the domain is locked within 2 business days. A trademark owner who simply writes to us gets nothing.
Can a foreign government or police force get my data?
Only through Panamanian legal process: a foreign authority asks the Panamanian authorities, for example through international legal assistance, and a Panamanian court decides. The exception is an urgent request that ICANN rules require registrars to answer: an imminent threat to life, serious bodily injury, critical infrastructure, or child exploitation. Other direct requests are refused and counted in the transparency report.
Can a complaint get my domain suspended?
Not on its own. Copyright, defamation, political or competitor complaints need a decision from a Panamanian court (foreign judgments must first be recognised in Panama). The only exceptions are phishing, malware, botnets, child sexual abuse material and fraud that takes money from victims, which lead to suspension under our abuse policy. A suspension never discloses your data by itself.
Will I be told if my data is disclosed?
Yes. We notify you at your verified email before any disclosure, unless the Panamanian court order forbids it. The notice says which order was received and which data it covers, so you can take legal advice and answer before the court.
What data could a Panamanian court obtain?
Only what exists, and it is little: one verified email per domain, a random 16-digit account number, the domains with their settings, and the balance. We collect nothing else — no name, no address, no phone number, no ID, no wallet address, no TXID — and we keep no connection logs.
Does the registry of my extension follow the same rule?
Not always. Registries apply their own national law to the data they hold. Every extension we sell uses our privacy service, so the registry holds our privacy contact, not your details. .de and the other extensions sold in our name only have our company as holder, so their registries hold our details, not yours. We do not sell .eu, whose registry would hold your own details (EURid discloses .eu data within 72 hours).
Are disclosure requests published?
Yes, as counts. The quarterly transparency report counts Panamanian court orders, foreign requests, private requests and UDRP cases, with how many were granted or refused. The first report is published in January 2027. It never names a customer, a requester or an email address.
Sources (4)
- 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement and its specifications (§3.6, §3.7.7.3, Privacy/Proxy specification) — ICANN (checked 8 October 2026)
- Updated UDRP Rules (registrar lock within 2 business days) — WIPO (checked 8 October 2026)
- WIPO and the GDPR: UDRP Q&A (privacy/proxy services in decisions) — WIPO (checked 8 October 2026)
- EURid introduces new policies to comply with Belgian NIS2 law — EURid (checked 8 October 2026)
Sending a court order?
Email a copy to [email protected] with the subject "Legal request". Read how foreign authorities go through Panama, or see what is published each quarter.