WHOIS: Protecting the Privacy of .CA Domain Name Holders
WHOIS is a common Internet search tool used to look up contact information about domain names holders. A search returns information such as name, address, phone and fax numbers, and email address. While WHOIS has been used since the inception of the Internet, concerns over privacy necessitated a re-evaluation of what information is publicly available in the .CA WHOIS.
CIRA conducted a series of consultations with various stakeholders to develop an approach that would protect the privacy of individuals while allowing access to corporate and institutional registration information.
Changes to WHOIS
The .CA WHOIS contains changes that apply primarily to individual Registrants. Private information about individual Registrants is no longer accessible through the .CA WHOIS. The private information of corporate Registrants is displayed by default. Information of corporate Registrants may be protected in special circumstances.
In implementing the .CA WHOIS, CIRA recognizes that a need remains to contact individual Registrants, particularly in regards to facilitating commercial transactions and resolving Intellectual Property and Trademark disputes.
In order to facilitate communication with Registrants whose contact information is no longer displayed, CIRA developed an online process for passing correspondence from interested parties to Registrants.
Contacting Individual Registrants Procedures
To contact a Registrant whose privacy is protected, use the online Message Delivery form.
The message is forwarded to the Registrant’s Administrative Contact email address as provided by the Registrant. CIRA can not guarantee that messages will be received, read and/or responded to by the recipient.
Legal
With respect to certain, specific disputes that a user has not been able to resolve through the Message Delivery form, if such user wishes to contact the Registrant directly to resolve the dispute, CIRA may, under specific and limited circumstances, disclose certain specific contact information of Registrants that is not publicly available through the WHOIS search tool, via the Request for Disclosure of Registrant Information - Rules and Procedures.
Law Enforcement
With respect to Canadian law enforcement agencies and the conduct of certain types of investigations, CIRA may also, under specific and limited circumstances, disclose certain specific contact information of Registrants that is not publicly available through the WHOIS search tool via the Request for Disclosure of Registrant Information for Law Enforcement - Rules and Procedures.
