Consumer groups urge ICANN to ensure privacy

Thursday, 6 November 2003

Over 50 consumer and civil liberty organisations have contacted officials at the Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) requesting that the regulator take greater measures to safeguard privacy.

It has been claimed that the current WHOIS database, by exposing certain personal information, is in violation of domain name holders’ privacy rights.

Signatories of the letter sent to ICANN president Paul Twomey stated that ‘the original purpose for WHOIS should be re-established’.

‘The WHOIS database was originally intended to allow network administrators to find and fix problems to maintain the stability of the Internet. It now exposes domain name registrants' personal information to many other users for many other purposes unrelated to network access,’ stated the letter.

The letter represents signatories from over 20 countries, including members of the American Liberty Association, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, the Consumer Project on Technology and the United Kingdom's Foundation for Information Policy Research.

ICANN is currently meeting in Carthage, Tunisia to review and discuss the WHOIS database.