| cy is the control of one’s own personal | | | | information was collected, and how the collector is |
| information, control over what others know about | | | | likely to use the information |
| one, and control over how others may use or exploit | | | | This implies that the private information is displayed |
| the personal information. Policies and practices for | | | | and made available to whoever wants to see it, at |
| protecting privacy aim towards minimizing the | | | | any point of time. |
| collection of personally identifiable information. | | | | Now it is possible to protect one’s private |
| Therefore, the basis of privacy is anonymity, where | | | | WhoIs information by switching the "public" domain |
| no personally identifiable information is collected. | | | | registration to a "private" unlisted registration through |
| Making compulsory, the disclosure of personally | | | | a private whois service. |
| identifiable information, as under current WhoIs | | | | A private whois service protects the private |
| policies for domain registration, cause privacy to be | | | | information and shields against its misuse. Hence, one |
| undermined | | | | is protected against: |
| For free speech, privacy is critical. For instance, if | | | | - Spam, |
| people are forced to disclose their identity, they are | | | | - Identity Theft, |
| reluctant to fully express their ideas on account of | | | | - Data Mining, |
| fear of persecution. | | | | - Name Hijackers, |
| The protection of anonymity further enhances the | | | | - Etc. |
| one-to-many characteristics of the Internet through | | | | It works in a similar way to having one’s |
| which an individual's speech can reach a global | | | | phone umber "unlisted" and it prevents people from |
| audience. | | | | gaining access to one’s address, phone |
| Privacy and data protection laws may apply to | | | | number and other such private information. |
| domain registrars' WhoIs services and registrars' | | | | A private whois service works by: |
| participation in thick registry WhoIs services in various | | | | - Protecting the private information |
| countries, particularly in the European Union's member | | | | - Relaying important communication |
| states. | | | | - Providing greater control |
| Current ICANN regulations require that the Private | | | | Protecting the Private Information |
| contact information (WhoIs Info) of each domain | | | | This implies that the private contact information is |
| registration be included in a publicly accessible | | | | not exposed and is held confidentially, and protected |
| Database. | | | | by the Domain Privacy Protection Service. Instead of |
| The WhoIs database is the collection of information | | | | the individual’s contact information, their |
| gathered by a domain name registrar from domain | | | | contact information is displayed to provide with the |
| name registrants. | | | | highest level of protection against spammers and |
| The purpose for which the WhoIs system is | | | | identity theft. |
| accessed includes: | | | | Relaying Important Communication |
| 1. To find out whether a specific domain name is | | | | Without a private whois service, those involved in |
| unregistered and currently available | | | | spamming can obtain email addresses through |
| 2. To identify the person or organization responsible | | | | harvesting and then use these for sending spam mails |
| for a domain registration or website on the Internet | | | | and redistribution to marketing firms. The email |
| 3. To support technical operations of Internet Service | | | | addresses can stay on record with various spammers |
| Providers or network administrators, including | | | | and marketing firms for several years. With a private |
| assistance in tracing sources of Spam or denial of | | | | whois service, the visible email address is constantly |
| service attacks | | | | changing, so it will change within a specific period of |
| 4. To collect names and contact information for the | | | | time and the previous address will not work for the |
| purpose of marketing | | | | spammer. The Domain Privacy Protection Service |
| 5. To aid government law enforcement, other than | | | | secures and maintains the real email address on |
| intellectual property | | | | record so that important information regarding the |
| When a WhoIs search is conducted, the information | | | | domain is received. |
| that is currently available about the domain name | | | | Providing Greater Control |
| registrant leads to the name and address of the | | | | The individual or organization subscribing to the |
| domain name owner. | | | | private whois service retains full legal ownership and |
| However, when a domain name is registered, the | | | | control over the domain registration. It is possible to |
| personal contact information such as name, address, | | | | sell, renew, transfer and change settings to the |
| email address, and even phone number might be | | | | domain name just the same as otherwise. The |
| made freely available. | | | | domain control panel provides real-time access to |
| The domain registrant would not know who collected | | | | easily manage the domain name. |
| his/her WhoIs data, the reason for which the | | | | |