Privacy Under Threat

Privacy Under Threat

Webmasters might have to wave goodbye to their privacy, pending a decision by the internet agency ICANN regarding WHOIS ownership details. Comments on the proposal will be accepted until the 7th of July through email at [email protected].

If the proposal is accepted, domain holders will no longer be able to withhold their private details through proxy registration services. All sites connected to ?commercial activity? will be required to provide WHOIS information, including address, contact number and email.

For some, this might come as welcome news. Anyone who has ever had a problem with ecommerce might understand the frustrations of attempting to contact domain owners who haven't divulged WHOIS information. Proponents of the new guidelines say the current system makes it impossible to contact or identify owners of problematic domains, and proxies are also difficult to reach.

The entertainment industry is hoping to more easily deal with the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials, such as articles, images and videos. With ?content marketing? such a key industry term right now, it?s easy to see why this is so important.

But others argue that revealing this information is opening yourself up for targeting by spammers and identity thieves, as well as other attacks. Anonymity has always been a central tenet in internet use, protecting the free speech of all netizens, from the level of disgruntled individuals seeking to vent, right up to whistleblowers exposing crime and corruption.

A new website, RespectOurPrivacy.com has been established to guide domain holders through the process of contacting ICANN and letting them know exactly what they think of the plan.

Contact ICAN today through https://www.respectourprivacy.com/ (a namecheap product)


Quoting namecheap:

?What's Happening

Under new guidelines proposed by MarkMonitor and others who represent the same industries that backed SOPA, domain holders with sites associated to "commercial activity" will no longer be able to protect their private information with WHOIS protection services. "Commercial activity" casts a wide net, which means that a vast number of domain holders will be affected. Your privacy provider could be forced to publish your contact data in WHOIS or even give it out to anyone who complains about your website, without due process. Why should a small business owner have to publicize her home address just to have a website?

We think your privacy should be protected, regardless of whether your website is personal or commercial, and your confidential info should not be revealed without due process. If you agree, it?s time to tell ICANN.

To view the new proposed rules, visit: http://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/raa/ppsai-initial-05may15-en.pdf.?

BHW WHAT DO YOU THINK? Leave your feedback below.

I got my Namecheap newsletter some days ago and already emailed ICANN, I think this is a absurd to have. What they should add is the availability to request the domain owner's information, and not just public display it. Your neightbours dont need to know that besides running a online shop website you also run a hardcore fetishe porno site.

Will this prosed change only affect ".com" websites or all domain names? And what about if the owner is based in a third world country, say - who is going to be able to check such 'foreign' names and addresses?

While I for one hope the proposed change never happens, I am conscious that ".co.uk" addresses - ie UK business address domains - have always been required to make these sort of 'real owner' disclosures, yet life and business seem to go on ok in Britain. To quote from Nominet, the guardian of .co.uk domains: "Only domain name holders that are non-trading individuals can opt out of having their address details published on the WHOIS. In other words, if the registrant is not a business or organisation and, in the case of domain names registered to individuals, you do not use or plan to use your domain name for business, trade (such as pay per click advertising, etc.) or professional transactions, you may opt out of having your address displayed."

BTW, I think the UK is probably the most heavily "watched and regulated" society in the western world, yet the people there don't seem to mind that much, or even notice any more. Maybe the UK has always been the testbed whenever 'they' want to begin the roll out of new controls across the whole internet ... But that's another story.