What are the privacy concerns associated with WHOIS?
As mentioned above, it is widely accepted that marketing organizations continuously access the WHOIS database to collect personal information for marketing purposes. In October 2003 CIPPIC, along with other interested consumer and civil liberty organizations, called on ICANN to limit the use of the WHOIS database to its original purpose of resolving technical issues. In response to this letter and concerns from other organizations and individuals about the protection of personal privacy, ICANN formed three Task Forces to the analyze privacy issues surrounding the Whois database. On May 28, 2004, the Task Forces published three preliminary reports for public comment. These reports examined: • Restricting Access of Whois for Marketing Purposes • Collecting and Displaying Registrant Data • Improving the Accuracy of Data Collected from Registrants In a letter to ICANN regarding these preliminary reports, CIPPIC recommended that the Whois database be limited in use to facilitating communica
