ICANN Rejects WHOIS Privacy Changes
Oct 31, 2007
According to the Associated Press, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted today to "defer long-simmering questions on whether names, phone numbers and other private information on domain name owners should remain public in open, searchable databases called WHOIS." As we wrote last week, privacy advocates have been asking ICANN to revamp use of WHOIS to protect registrants' personal data.
The proposals that had been discussed ranged from getting rid of WHOIS altogether to mandating the use of a third-party operator that would keep individuals' data out of reach of anyone searching WHOIS. In the end, though, ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization Council rejected those possibilities in favor of further studies. A move that disappointed those who'd been calling for privacy protections for years, and relieved those who rely on WHOIS to get information about who owns what Web site. The Council set a February 15th deadline to determine what types of studies would be undertaken.
For more, check out the AP article.
Tags:
ICANN, Internet governance, Privacy
