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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

A new social network with IRMA at its core

"Identity and personal data aren't commodities"

Social network scheme, which contains icons of people
  • Tuesday 28 September 2021

Issues surrounding privacy, personal data security and digital identity protection confront us every day. Bart Jacobs, Professor of Security, Privacy and Identity at Radboud University in Nijmegen and founder of the IRMA privacy-friendly identity platform, is actively involved in identifying and flagging up such issues. Together with José van Dijck, Professor of Media and Digital Society in Utrecht, he's now planning to create a new social network, in which IRMA will play a key role. A network that is genuinely social, where users keep control of their own data. Here, Bart talks about his ambitions, the latest IRMA developments and the project that he and José are planning.

Developments with IRMA

Bart Jacobs, hoogleraar Security, Privacy en Identiteit aan de Radboud Universiteit in Nijmegen en oprichter van het privacyvriendelijke identiteitsplatform IRMA

Bart Jacobs takes a wide-ranging interest in the societal dimensions of digitisation. One of the topics he studies is the role of the police and other investigative agencies in our society. He also looks at how organisations operate in a world where the security of their own data and that of their customers or stakeholders is an increasingly important issue. "I specialise mainly in digital identity," explains Bart. "The IRMA open-source identity platform is a good example." With the free IRMA smartphone app, you can log in to sites and services easily and securely using verified identity data provided by trusted sources such as the local authority. As the user, you get to choose what details about yourself you share in a given situation. Do you need to show that you're over eighteen, for example? IRMA lets you do that without having to tell the shop or service provider your full date of birth. Another plus is that IRMA is a decentralised system, meaning that your personal data isn't stored centrally, just on your phone. "IRMA is starting to get established now, especially in the health care sector," says Bart. "It's very important that care providers can securely confirm a service user's identity. After all, they're dealing with highly sensitive medical data that has to be properly protected. Various local authorities in the Netherlands also have projects in progress that involve IRMA. For example, we did a project with the City of Amsterdam, where IRMA was used to let people access City services in a more convenient and privacy-friendly way. The City of Amsterdam has also produced a video explaining what IRMA is, so that people can see the advantages of using the IRMA app to log in."

IRMA goes social

On 13 October 2021, Bart will receive the NWO Stevin Prize 2021: the Netherlands' most prestigious academic accolade. Bart has exciting plans to invest part of the prize – a research grant of 2.5 million – in setting up a new social network. His partner in the proposed project is José van Dijck, who is in line for another important academic award, the Spinoza Prize. She too intends to use some of her research grant to get the project moving. IRMA will play an important role in the new social network. "I see it as a challenge to enrich the digital world with a network where people feel free to socialise without worrying about their privacy," says Bart. "The networks we currently have describe themselves as 'social', but many aren't very prosocial at all. There's widespread misuse of personal data. And when we use platforms such as Facebook, we only get to see the content that they want us to see. I'd like to build on the model of a WhatsApp group. I have in mind a platform where the user creates a closed community in which people can exchange information freely and look out for one another. Each community will be able to decide what data someone has to share in order to join. For example, you might have a 'street community', where the joining criterion is that live on the street in question."

IRMA as the digital ID for the whole internet

IRMA was created with the public good in mind. IRMA is consequently a strong, reliable platform with great potential. As such, it dovetails perfectly with the framework for a European identity proposed by the European Commission (EC) in June 2021. The EC envisages an app like IRMA being made available to all European citizens, which can be populated with data from reliable sources, such as government bodies. Users will then be able to use the app throughout Europe to prove their identity, without having to present an ID document and share all the data in it.

IRMA app infrastructure ready for large-scale use

"When the internet was invented in the twentieth century, online identities didn't exist. So the internet simply isn't designed for them. Which is why we have so much fraud and intrusion on privacy today. Various players are developing or have said they want to develop identity platforms, but many of them are commercially motivated. Commercialism doesn't sit comfortably with a global login system, because identity isn't a commodity. My long-term vision is that IRMA, or at least the principles underpinning IRMA, will form the basis for digital identification across the whole internet."

Collaboration with SIDN and SIDN Fund

SIDN and Privacy by Design join forces for privacy-friendly electronic identities based on IRMA

SIDN is supporting the rollout and growth of IRMA in various ways. For example, SIDN operates the platform's technical infrastructure. And, with the aim of driving IRMA's further development, SIDN and Privacy by Design have formed a partnership under the banner IRMA powered by SIDN. As an open-source, not-for-profit, decentralised platform, IRMA is a secure, accessible initiative where user privacy is centre stage. The principles on which IRMA is founded are perfectly aligned with SIDN's mission to promote problem-free, opportunity-rich digital living for everyone. SIDN Fund has also given financial and facilitative support to various innovative IRMA-related projects and pilots, including IRMA-meet (authenticated video conferencing) and Cryptify (encrypted file transfer). For all the latest news about IRMA-related developments, visit https://www.sidn.nl/irma-powered-by-sidn. The IRMA app is available to download at https://irma.app/.