GDPR is a European regulation that aims to strengthen protections for the use and storage of individuals’ personal data.
GDPR requires that companies manage personal data in a certain way – and this can have a significant implications for people who deal in domain names.
The biggest impact of GDPR on domain names affects those that use the registration details publicly listed on WHOIS for their Business strategies, Domain name outbound marketing, direct selling/offering of domain names to the domain owners and sending offers directly to the domain owners in case the domain name is not listed at the marketplace.
The European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) protecting EU citizens privacy takes effect on May 25, 2018. So far, so good. Who doesn’t like privacy? But, many groups, including Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which manages the Domain Name System (DNS), are completely unprepared for the new laws.
So, why does that matter to you? It matters because ICANN also runs the WHOIS public database of domain name owners. Everyone with any web domain must register not only their domain, but their names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.
But my use of Domain Name Whois in general is very different – I often forget my own domain names, since there are thousands of domains registered each year. Sometimes I like a domain name, I check and its gone. I try its Whois and I discover thats owned by myself/my company, lol.
The other common scenario is that registration information be forgotten when companies are bought and sold. To protect personal data and to avoid unnecessary fines or sanctions, we recommend that you use non-personal, generic information instead.
There are a number of uncertainties with regards to this regulation and how it will affect each domain registrar and reseller differently. In fact, only as time goes by will we have the clarity we are after. The best immediate cause of action would be to gain GDPR legal advice and start the process to becoming compliant.
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