Every domain has to have a named owner on record. That's an ICANN rule that applies to every registrar, not something we've added.
We only ask when we're handling the registration itself, so when you register a new domain or transfer one in. If you're just connecting a domain you already own, we never ask for it.
Your details are not made public. Private registration is switched on for you at no cost, so anyone looking up your domain sees a privacy service instead of you: your name shows as "Redacted For Privacy", a forwarding address and phone stand in for your own, and your email isn't shown at all. Your real details go to our domain partner, Name.com, and stop there.
They do have to be genuine, though. ICANN can suspend a domain registered with false details.
Use an email address you actually read, and not one at the domain you're registering, since that won't be working yet. Your confirmation link, renewal notices and expiry warnings all go there.
You enter this once. Review or update it any time under Account → Domain contacts.