WHOIS Disclosure Policy Consultation
CIRA's WHOIS Privacy Policy, which was introduced in June 2008, protects the privacy of individual Registrants by restricting personal information, including Registrant name, home address, phone number and email address, from the public. In an effort to balance the requirements of its numerous stakeholders, CIRA also developed a Disclosure Policy that permits the disclosure of individual Registrant information in specific limited circumstances. The policy was designed to achieve balance between protecting the privacy of individual Registrants and providing timely mechanisms for legitimate information requests. When the WHOIS Privacy Policy was introduced in June 2008, CIRA committed to conducting a review of the Disclosure Policy within a year.
In fulfilling its promise, CIRA has recently undertaken and concluded a wide-ranging public consultation. The purpose of the public consultation was to solicit feedback on whether CIRA's WHOIS Disclosure Policy strikes the appropriate balance between the privacy rights of Registrants and other stakeholders such as intellectual property interests and law enforcement agencies, given the experience since the launch of the new policy.
CIRA consulted with a variety of stakeholders including Registrants, Registrars, CIRA Members, the Canadian public, law enforcement groups and subject matter experts such as privacy advocates and intellectual property specialists. The consultative process consisted of seven elements for interested parties to provide feedback, beginning with one-on-one interviews with key stakeholders. Following that, CIRA engaged with Registrars, Registrants and Members, obtaining their views through a survey. CIRA Members were also given the opportunity to participate in the discussion through an online Member Forum which began July 6, 2009, as well as through an open microphone session at the Annual General Meeting on September 22, 2009. Additionally, an open consultation with the Canadian public was launched on July 6, 2009 in the form of an electronic submission form. The consultation process was conducted between June and October 2009 and followed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEDC) Guidelines for Online Public Consultation.
The following is the feedback CIRA sought and received:
Overview of Findings from the WHOIS Stakeholder Consultation, The Strategic Counsel
- Executive Summary of Findings: WHOIS Stakeholder Consultation, The Strategic Counsel
- WHOIS Consultation Member Forum Comments
- WHOIS Consultation Annual General Meeting Open-Microphone Discussion
- Responses from open consultation
Based on the input received, the following key findings have been reported to CIRA's Board of Directors:
- Though there is limited awareness amongst Registrants that CIRA implemented changes to its WHOIS policy, most dot-ca domain name holders are either satisfied with or hold no opinion about the policy, when those changes were outlined. Overall, the policy is viewed as effective by Registrants in protecting the privacy of their personal information.
- Most Registrants and Registrars believe that CIRA has been successful at striking an appropriate balance between privacy concerns and the need for accountability of individual dot-ca domain name holders.
- There is widespread support for CIRA disclosing an individual’s WHOIS information under the specific circumstances CIRA has set out (e.g. child exploitation matters; threat to stability of the Internet; identity theft; espionage, sabotage, or terrorist threat; and infringement of intellectual property rights).
- Interested parties in the areas of intellectual property and law enforcement, would like to see changes to the policy to reflect their particular concerns (e.g. too procedural; time consuming; expensive; impedes dispute resolution; limits the types of crimes for which law enforcement can receive assistance; alerts Registrants to the request from law enforcement; interferes with law enforcement's ability to act in the public’s best interests, etc.). On the other hand, privacy advocates expressed the view that the policy does not go far enough to protect the privacy of Individual Registrants, and that there should be no exceptions for either intellectual property interests or law enforcement agencies. At a minimum, however, they wish to see the Policy maintained as is.
- A number of the perspectives by various constituencies are at odds with one another. In addition, there appears to be little support from Registrants for material changes to the policy.
Accordingly, CIRA's initial view is that, if any changes are to be made to the policy it appears that they should be minor. Over the next several months, CIRA's Board will study the key findings and give consideration to whether any adjustments to the WHOIS disclosure policy are warranted or appropriate.
In the meantime, CIRA is accepting comments on the WHOIS Disclosure Policy Consultation.
Comments can be provided either by email or regular mail:
Emails should be sent to WHOIS2010@cira.ca with the subject line: CIRA Open Consultation: Input on the WHOIS Disclosure Policy.
Note: Submissions must be attached to the email in a standard word processing software format such as Text file, Rich Text Format, Wordperfect, Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF, and must be under 50 pages. File size is limited to 5 megabytes.
Mailed comments should be delivered to the following address:
Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)
350 Sparks Street, Suite 306
Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 7S8
Attn: Sheila Bergeron
Note: The hard copy comments must be in a standard word processing software format such as Text file, Rich Text Format, Wordperfect, Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF, and must be under 50 pages total.
All comments may be posted online unless confidentiality is specifically requested. If you wish your comments to remain confidential, please copy and paste the following onto the first page of your submission:
“I wish for my comments to remain confidential and I do not give CIRA permission to post my comments on the Internet.”
For additional information on this consultation please contact:
Michael Stewart
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
WHOIS2010@cira.ca
Resources and Links
News Releases
CIRA Announcement: CIRA elicits feedback on the WHOIS Disclosure Policy, June 4, 2009
Canadian Internet Registration Authority ends free-for-all over personal information, June 11, 2008
WHOIS Policy Documentation
WHOIS Policy Introduction
WHOIS: Legal and Law Enforcement
WHOIS: FAQ
WHOIS: Interested Party Contact
WHOIS Legal Policies
Request for Disclosure of Registrant Information - Rules and Procedures
Request for Disclosure of Registrant Information for Law Enforcement and National Security Agencies - Rules and Procedures
