Proposed NCDNHC resolution on personal privacy

In many countries around the world, information privacy or data protection, is regarded as a human right. In many countries it is also recognized as an important component of consumer protection. In either case, the protection of personal privacy is viewed as important in and of itself, as a necessary condition for the free dissemination of viewpoints and opinions, and as prevention against misuse of personal information that can result in economic harm. The following resolution presents general principles that ICANN should follow with respect to decisions that affect personal privacy.

In current and future policies regarding the privacy of domain name registrants and Internet users, ICANN should abide by the following principles:

1. ICANN policies with regard to domain name registration have consequences for personal privacy.
2. ICANN should at all times seek to adopt policies that to the extent possible, protect personal privacy.
3. ICANN should solicit public comments on the question of the relationship between ICANN decisions with regard to domain names, IP numbers, and protocol development, on personal privacy.

In particular, ICANN should immediately examine the following issues:

1. The ability of registrars to sell bulk access to registrant data under the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Section II.F.6. In the opinion of the NCC meeting in Melbourne, registrars should be prohibited from doing so.
2. The ability of registrars to adopt higher levels of privacy protection than permitted under the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Section II.F.5. In an amicus memorandum submitted by ICANN regarding Register.com, Inc. v. Verio Inc., ICANN asserted that "Section II.F.5 of the current Registrar Accreditation Agreement limits the registrars' abilities to place conditions on use of the data they provide the public in query-baseed Whois services." In the opinion of the NCC meeting in Melbourne, registrars should be allowed to provide higher levels of privacy protection for domain name registrant data than outlined in the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Section II.F.5.
3. Whether the amount of information collected by registrars and/or made available through the Whois database can be further limited than what is currently required in the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Section II.F.1. In the opinion of the NCC meeting in Melbourne, ICANN should only require the contact information for a technical contact be made available through the Whois database.
4. Whether ICANN should adopt policies allowing anonymous registration of domain names since it is currently unavailable. In the opinion of the NCC meeting in Melbourne, providing anonymous registration would greater enable speakers to disseminate ideas and information via the Internet.
5. Whether ICANN, as an organization with international reach, currently complies with data protection laws around the world that seek to protect personal privacy. In the opinion of the NCC meeting in Melbourne, sections of the ICANN RAA cited above likely contravene applicable data protection law and encourage ICANN staff and outside experts to examine this issue more closely. On this point, we encourage interested parties to consult a report provided by the Berlin Data Protection Commission: "International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications: Common Position on Privacy and Data Protection aspects of the Registration of Domain Names on the Internet" available at http://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/doc/int/iwgdpt/dns_en.htm
6. Lastly, the NCC meeting in Melbourne urges registrars to provide and promote procedures and services by which registrants who are individual persons may make use of role identities. The ability to use role identities is discussed in Section II.J.7a, Paragraph 3 of the ICANN RAA.

References:

• ICANN Registar Accreditation Agreement (RAA)

http://www.icann.org/nsi/icann-raa-04nov99.htm

• ICANN's Amicus Curiae Memorandum - Register.com, Inc. v. Verio Inc.

http://www.icann.org/registrars/register.com-verio/amicus-22sep00.htm

Vote on resolution:

• For, 12;
• Against, 0;
• Abstain, 4.

Resolution passes.