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Whois was killed off by the European Union passing the GDPR. It really changed how I use the internet for the worse. In the old days I could always at least sen

Whois was killed off by the European Union passing the GDPR. It really changed how I use the internet for the worse. In the old days I could always at least send an email to a domain hosting a service. Now there's no default contact information and everything is behind walled gardens. Email was the great communicator. Removing it from WHOIS made the web more fragile and broken. But whois doesn't have to be that way and the problems are not intrinsic to whois. They are stemming from political interference done with good intentions but bad outcomes.

dredmorbius 4y ago
Mentioned in TFA FWIW: the ICANN [contact disclosure] requirement now does indeed conflict with modern privacy laws, such as the EU's GDPR, meaning all domains registered by European registries are in violation of either GDPR or ICANN's requirement.
- Animats 4y ago
  That's only for individuals. For businesses, the reverse is true. It's illegal to run an anonymous business on the Internet in the EU.[1] That's in the Directive on Electronic Commerce. General information to be provided 1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that the service provider shall render easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service and competent authorities, at least the following information: (a) the name of the service provider; (b) the geographic address at which the service provider is established; (c) the details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner; (d) where the service provider is registered in a trade or similar public register, the trade register in which the service provider is entered and his registration number, or equivalent means of identification in that register; (e) where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority; The EU wants to make cross-border commerce work. So, they want customers to be able to find sellers should there be a problem. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0031:EN:HTML https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX...
Aeolun 4y ago
To be fair, when I recently found all my historical addresses (past 15 years or so) connected to my name on some random website there was only one source they could’ve gotten that information from. I’m inclined to believe that most people looking up WHOIS details have good intentions, but clearly there are people that use them for their own purposes.
junon 4y ago
I don't follow. How does Whois now having privacy - which had nothing to do with GDPR - make the internet worse?
- superkuh 4y ago
  In the old days (up to ~2018) you could always contact people on the internet. Now you cannot contact people. That's bad. It's like the switch from knowing and being able to talk your neighbors to not knowing and not talking to your neighbors. Like the switch from a small town to a megacity. And you're completely wrong about GDPR. It is the primary, if not exclusive, reason most registrars in most regions have removed WHOIS information. ref: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data-specs-en https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data... https://circleid.com/posts/20210119-whois-record-redaction-and-gdpr-whats-the-evolution-post-2018 https://circleid.com/posts/20210119-whois-record-redaction-a...
  - junon 4y ago
    WHOIS having privacy guards was a thing at least as far back as 15 years ago, as memory serves.
    - superkuh 4y ago
      I'm aware. Look at the plots of WHOIS privacy vs open once ICANN was forced to allow it by the GDPR. They're in my second link. You cannot deny that correlation so I assume you just didn't bother looking.
      - asdajksah2123 4y ago
        So basically people who were unaware of the fact that their private data was being served publicly are now protected by default thanks to the GDPR.

dredmorbius 4y ago

Mentioned in TFA FWIW: the ICANN [contact disclosure] requirement now does indeed conflict with modern privacy laws, such as the EU's GDPR, meaning all domains registered by European registries are in violation of either GDPR or ICANN's requirement.

Animats 4y ago
That's only for individuals. For businesses, the reverse is true. It's illegal to run an anonymous business on the Internet in the EU.[1] That's in the Directive on Electronic Commerce. General information to be provided 1. In addition to other information requirements established by Community law, Member States shall ensure that the service provider shall render easily, directly and permanently accessible to the recipients of the service and competent authorities, at least the following information: (a) the name of the service provider; (b) the geographic address at which the service provider is established; (c) the details of the service provider, including his electronic mail address, which allow him to be contacted rapidly and communicated with in a direct and effective manner; (d) where the service provider is registered in a trade or similar public register, the trade register in which the service provider is entered and his registration number, or equivalent means of identification in that register; (e) where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority; The EU wants to make cross-border commerce work. So, they want customers to be able to find sellers should there be a problem. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0031:EN:HTML https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX...

Aeolun 4y ago

To be fair, when I recently found all my historical addresses (past 15 years or so) connected to my name on some random website there was only one source they could’ve gotten that information from. I’m inclined to believe that most people looking up WHOIS details have good intentions, but clearly there are people that use them for their own purposes.

junon 4y ago

I don't follow. How does Whois now having privacy - which had nothing to do with GDPR - make the internet worse?

superkuh 4y ago
In the old days (up to ~2018) you could always contact people on the internet. Now you cannot contact people. That's bad. It's like the switch from knowing and being able to talk your neighbors to not knowing and not talking to your neighbors. Like the switch from a small town to a megacity. And you're completely wrong about GDPR. It is the primary, if not exclusive, reason most registrars in most regions have removed WHOIS information. ref: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data-specs-en https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data... https://circleid.com/posts/20210119-whois-record-redaction-and-gdpr-whats-the-evolution-post-2018 https://circleid.com/posts/20210119-whois-record-redaction-a...
- junon 4y ago
  WHOIS having privacy guards was a thing at least as far back as 15 years ago, as memory serves.
  - superkuh 4y ago
    I'm aware. Look at the plots of WHOIS privacy vs open once ICANN was forced to allow it by the GDPR. They're in my second link. You cannot deny that correlation so I assume you just didn't bother looking.
    - asdajksah2123 4y ago
      So basically people who were unaware of the fact that their private data was being served publicly are now protected by default thanks to the GDPR.