It really isn't GDPR that ruined the ability to use 'whois' for
transparency, it is the lazy hosting companies (or those that like
renting IP(s) to miscreants that search for anonymous places to perform
their actions) that are at fault.
Yes, an individual probably SHOULD be able to opt out from whois IF THEY
WANT, however if if they expect people to allow traffic from their
domain, they should understand that transparency is important,
especially so that people can notify them if 'things go wrong'.
However, this issue predates GDPR, even before that hosting companies
used the excuse that spammers were 'stripping' whois information to
perform spamming, and they used that excuse as justification why not to
bother running an 'rwhois' server, or swip'ing their customers. The
argument was weak though, I mean customers CAN use spam protection ;)
And they could have either obfuscated the email, or posted an
alternative means of contact..
But when GDPR came along, this gave those same hosters an even better
argument that sounded good.. we can't because of GDPR.
For the record, GDPR doesn't preclude posting whois information, as long
as the customer understands that it is for a legitimate reason.
The hosting company could simply put it in their terms of service, that
unless they 'opt out', they agree to the information to be used for the
stated reasons.
But of course, that means two things:
* A 'slight' cost in operating/maintaining whois
* CEO's worried about ANYTHING that might deter potential revenue.
As long as there is an 'opt-out' clause, or even better, the company
only wanting businesses who believe in transparency, keeping accurate
whois records is not only possible, but will earn the hosting company a
better reputation across the internet.
-- Michael --
On 2021-09-26 10:10 a.m., Andrew C Aitchison via mailop wrote:
x
On Fri, 24 Sep 2021, Slavko via mailop wrote:
While i cannot comment mentioned OVH domain, i will ask, why anyone
have to know from WHOIS of my domain my name, or my address or anything
about me as private person?
My understanding before GDPR was that private (non-commercial?)
domain owners could opt out of whois (may just have been an RIPE thing).
This would leave name and (non-internet) contact details for
post-holders in commercial domains, but the rise of anonymizing services
(also before GDPR IIRC) protected them and made whois useless.
I don't understand how/why registries allow anonymizing services,
but that it definitely off topic.
--
"Catch the Magic of Linux..."
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Visit us at http://www.linuxmagic.com @linuxmagic
A Wizard IT Company - For More Info http://www.wizard.ca
"LinuxMagic" a Registered TradeMark of Wizard Tower TechnoServices Ltd.
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