DNSO Archives: [nc-whois]

---start of statement---

Privacy is much larger than just Whois. Whois itself is no longer the primary (or sole) information access mechanism for information about Internet users.

Privacy needs to be balanced against the following areas of concern:

1. Accuracy

2. Security

3. Stability

Whois historically has been used to discover information associated with a domain name, or an internet address.

A: Accurate information is important for the following reason: Organizations, network operators, the legal community, as well as other interested parties often depend solely on accurate Whois information in order to do their jobs.

B: Security is an important and pervasive concern. Many observers and interested parties I have talked to have told me that when security has to compete with privacy, security must always win. This is an important concept that needs to be explored further.

C: Stability is a third concern that impacts privacy, and has serious impact on the operational qualities of the Internet as we know it. The effect of unbridled privacy requirements on the ongoing stability of the current Internet system needs to be studied further. For example, adding more and more qualifiers to a name may eventually result in degraded performance, much larger data packets that must be transmitted on existing pipes, larger databases, and increased costs to all parties that transmit information online (Registrars, registries, ISPs, for instance).

D: Privacy is first a local issue. Local laws and jurisdictions trump other policies or guidelines that may be put in place.

E: The value of prioritizing various concerns and determining which concerns overrule privacy "rules" seems evident. Bret Fausett pointed out that the law will overrule all other concerns, which I agree with.

---end of statement---

-ram

[nc-whois]

[nc-whois] Ram Mohan - comments on Privacy and Whois