In a month the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in the European Union countries. It significantly toughens up rules for storage and use of EU citizens’ personal data by the organizations. In particular, many provisions of this document are in violation of WHOIS requirements. Numerous attempts by the ICANN management to find a compromised solution didn’t succeed. As a result, ICANN President Göran Marby addressed government institutions of all 28 EU countries responsible for personal data protection (Data Protection Authorities – DPA) with a letter.
Online Domain reports that in his letter Marby urges EU authorities to help find a solution that, on the one hand, would comply with GDPR requirements and, on the other, ensured the functionality of WHOIS service. ICANN President also proposes a moratorium on fines paid by domain registrars and registries until a necessary solution is found. Göran Marby points out that many registrars and registries refuse to publish and even store domain name registrants’ data because they fear enormous fines introduced by GDPR. According to Marby, this compromises the integrity and safety of the entire WHOIS system, while its destruction seriously threatens public interest.
