Public Comment
Priority 2 Policy Recommendations for ICANN Board Consideration from EPDP Phase 2
Open Date
3 December 2020 23:59 UTC
Close Date
22 January 2021 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
5 February 2021 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: This Public Comment proceeding seeks to obtain community input prior to Board action on a subset of final policy recommendations of the Generic Names Supporting Organization Expedited Policy Development Process on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data (EPDP) – Phase 2. Specifically, this Public Comment proceeding is seeking input on a set of final recommendations that relate to topics from the EPDP's Phase 1 (which have also been referred to as "priority 2 topics"); the recommendations related to the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure ("SSAD") which were also adopted by the GNSO Council as part of the EPDP Phase 2 Final Report are NOT included in this Public Comment proceeding and will be part of a future Public Comment proceeding.
Current Status: The GNSO Council approved the policy recommendations during its meeting on 24 September 2020.
Next Steps: The ICANN Board is expected to take action on the approved policy recommendations.
Your Comment: Your submission, including your name, will be published in the Public Comment archive on ICANN org's website. If you have any questions regarding Public Comment, please contact public-comment@icann.org.
Section I: Description and Explanation
On 17 May 2018, the ICANN Board of Directors (ICANN Board) adopted the Temporary Specification for generic top-level domain (gTLD) Registration Data ("Temporary Specification"). The Temporary Specification provides modifications to existing requirements in the Registrar Accreditation and Registry Agreements in order to comply with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"). In accordance with the ICANN Bylaws, the Temporary Specification expired on 25 May 2019.
On 19 July 2018, the GNSO Council initiated an Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) and chartered the EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data team. In accordance with the Charter, the EPDP team membership was expressly limited. However, all ICANN Stakeholder Groups, Constituencies, Supporting Organizations, and Advisory Committees interested in participating are represented on the EPDP Team (see https://community.icann.org/x/kBdIBg).
In order to organize its work, the EPDP Team agreed to divide its work into priority 1 and priority 2 topics. Priority 1 consists of the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure and all directly related questions. Priority 2 includes the topics specifically concerning the issues noted in the Annex to the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data ("Important Issues for Further Community Action") and outstanding issues deferred from Phase 1, e.g., redaction of city field, data retention, et. al. Priority 2 recommendations (Recs. 19 – 22) are included below for ease of reference.
Recommendation #19: In the case of a domain name registration where an affiliated and/or accredited privacy/proxy service is used, e.g., where data associated with a natural person is masked, Registrar (and Registry, where applicable) MUST include the full RDDS data of the applicable privacy/proxy service in response to an RDDS query. The full privacy/proxy RDDS data may also include a pseudonymized email. *Note: this recommendation is updated to include affiliated AND accredited privacy/proxy services, while EPDP Phase 1 Recommendation #14 only applied to affiliated providers.
Recommendation #20: The EPDP Team recommends that the EPDP Phase 1 recommendation #11 is updated to state that redaction MAY be applied to the city field in reference to the registrant's contact information, instead of MUST.
Recommendation #21: The EPDP Team confirms its recommendation from phase 1 that registrars MUST retain only those data elements deemed necessary for the purposes of the TDRP, for a period of fifteen months following the life of the registration plus three months to implement the deletion, i.e., 18 months. This retention is grounded on the stated policy stipulation within the TDRP that claims under the policy may only be raised for a period of 12 months after the alleged breach (FN: see TDRP section 2.2) of the Transfer Policy (FN: see Section 1.15 of TDRP). For clarity, this does not prevent Requestors, including ICANN Compliance, from requesting disclosure of these retained data elements for purposes other than TDRP, but disclosure of those will be subject to relevant data protection laws, e.g., does a lawful basis for disclosure exist. For the avoidance of doubt, this retention period does not restrict the ability of registries and registrars to retain data elements for longer periods.
Recommendation #22: The EPDP Team recommends the following purpose be added to the EPDP Team Phase 1 purposes, which form the basis of the new ICANN policy:
- Contribute to the maintenance of the security, stability, and resiliency of the Domain Name System in accordance with ICANN's mission. *Note this is updated from Purpose 2 in EPDP Phase 1, Recommendation 1, which provided, "Contributing to the maintenance of the security, stability, and resiliency of the Domain Name System in accordance with ICANN's mission through enabling responses to lawful data disclosure requests."
This Public Comment proceeding does not include priority 1 recommendations (SSAD recommendations). Following the ICANN Board's consultation with the GNSO Council regarding SSAD recommendations, described in more detail in the Background section below, ICANN org will hold a separate Public Comment forum.
Section II: Background
On 17 May 2018, the ICANN Board of Directors (ICANN Board) adopted the Temporary Specification for generic top-level domain (gTLD) Registration Data ("Temporary Specification"). The Temporary Specification provides modifications to existing requirements in the Registrar Accreditation and Registry Agreements in order to comply with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"). In accordance with the ICANN Bylaws, the Temporary Specification expired on 25 May 2019.
On 19 July 2018, the GNSO Council initiated an Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) and chartered the EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data team. In accordance with the Charter, EPDP team membership was expressly limited. However, all ICANN Stakeholder Groups, Constituencies, Supporting Organizations, and Advisory Committees interested in participating are represented on the EPDP Team.
During Phase 1 of its work, the EPDP Team was tasked to determine if the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data should become an ICANN Consensus Policy as is, or with modifications. This Final Report concerns phase 2 of the EPDP Team's charter which covers: (i) discussion of a system for standardized access/disclosure to nonpublic registration data, (ii) issues noted in the Annex to the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data ("Important Issues for Further Community Action"), and (iii) outstanding issues deferred from Phase 1, e.g., redaction of city field, data retention, et. al. For further details, please see here.
The EPDP Team published its Initial Report on priority 1 recommendations on 7 February 2020 and the Addendum to the Initial Report, covering priority 2 recommendations, on 26 March 2020. The EPDP Team reviewed all Public Comments received using the Public Comment Review Tool (PCRT). The EPDP Team incorporated Public Comments into its Final Report, where it believed warranted. The Final Report was delivered to the Council on 31 July 2020. Minority Statements were accepted through 24 August 2020, and all statements received by the deadline were incorporated into the Final Report. The GNSO Council considered the Final Report during its meetings on 24 September 2020.
As a result of ongoing consultation between the Board and the GNSO Council, this Public Comment forum does not include priority 1 items (SSAD recommendations). Along with its submission of the EPDP Phase 2 Final Report to the Board, the GNSO Council specifically requested a consultation with the ICANN Board to discuss "whether a further cost-benefit analysis should be conducted before the ICANN Board considers all SSAD-related recommendations for adoption." The GNSO Council requested this consultation as a result of the Phase 2 minority statements, many of which expressed concerns with the financial implications and the cost vs. benefit of the SSAD. Following the ICANN Board's consultation with the GNSO Council regarding priority 1 items, ICANN org will hold a separate Public Comment forum.
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments