Marc's comments on Kathy's comments (was Re: [NCUC-DISCUSS] Draft Comments on Proxy Services

[Chris Chiu]

Marc Schneiders [mailto:marc at SCHNEIDERS.ORG] wrote:
>Am I wrong that registrars are still entitled (or even obliged) to
>sell my whois data to third parties? Why? Who is the owner of my data?
>I can opt out of this bulk selling of my data. But not of making
>public that I own a domain. In some (or many I do not know) European
>countries you cannot even find out who owns a piece of land, unless
>you can establish a legitimate interest in knowing the details. Why
>for domains open to all at any time so easily? Ask those who insist on
>whois as it is, why, why, why. The burden is upon them. Not us.

I agree with Marc that the burden should be on the registrars (and the government when the government is requesting the information) to protect the privacy of Whois data, rather than on the individual Internet user. I'm also worried that, even if an opt-out system is implemented, that users will have to go through a laborious process to protect their personal information.

Sincerely,
Christopher Chiu
Technology Policy Analyst
American Civil Liberties Union