I am excited to announce that I have published the first report of the Complaints Office's activities on the our dedicated webpage. This initial report includes submissions received through 12 June 2017, and I will be updating it on a regular basis.
It's been two months since I opened the Complaints Office, and I have already received nearly 200 submissions. However, what I've found interesting about the submissions is that only a small number have fallen within the scope of the Complaints Office. The out-of-scope submissions that I've received fall into three categories:
- They belong to another complaints process
- They are an inquiry regarding a potential complaint
- They contained a blank submission
For complaints that fell within the scope of the office, you will see data in the published report with links to each complaint and our response (if applicable), as well as the latest status and corresponding responses, all while respecting private and/or confidential information. The report also includes a summary of the out-of-scope submissions broken down by category, number received per month for each category, and a brief description of how they are handled by the Complaints Office.
As a reminder, the Complaints Office handles complaints regarding the ICANN Organization and any that don't fall into an existing complaints mechanism. This may include complaints about processes, timing and accessibility of information, among other things. Existing complaints processes, such as Contractual Compliance, Global Support and ICANN's Bylaws-mandated Accountability Mechanisms, remain the same and should continue to be used for complaints that are within their scope.
The processes for the Complaints Office are continuously developing and evolving, and I'd appreciate your feedback. I will be on the ground at ICANN59, so if you have any suggestions or words of advice on how I can improve the office, or if you have an issue you would like to discuss, please don't hesitate to stop me in the hall or email complaints@icann.org to request a meeting time. I hope those of you going to Johannesburg have safe travels, and I look forward to meeting with some of you!
