ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the not-for-profit entity responsible for the technical coordination of the Internet's domain name system (DNS). On September 30, 2009, NTIA, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, reached agreement with ICANN on an Affirmation of Commitments that completed the transition of the technical coordination of the DNS to a multi-stakeholder, private-sector led model and contains provisions to ensure accountability and transparency in ICANN's decision-making with the goal of protecting the interests of global Internet users, as well as mechanisms to address the security stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS.
NTIA represents the U.S. government in ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which is structured to provide advice to the ICANN Board on the public policy aspects of the broad range of issues pending before ICANN.
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A Proposal for More Privacy in Domain Name Personal Data
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is embarking on an inquiry into whether more privacy protections are necessary for people who have registered “.us” domains on the Internet.
NTIA administers the contract for the country code top-level domain, for the United States, .us. The .us domain is used by American businesses, individuals, and localities.
NTIA’s contractor, Registry Services, is required by the agency to maintain a publicly accessible database of .us domain name registrations. Registry Services provides a directory service that allows anyone to obtain registration data without any authentication.
Personal information – including names, home addresses and phone numbers – is included in the registration database. Concerns have been raised that this information may be misused for abusive purposes, including doxxing, spam, or other harassment.
NTIA is working on multiple fronts to address data privacy concerns. To better protect the personal information of .us domain registration holders, NTIA is seeking comment on a Registry Services’ proposal that would require those that request access to registration data to provide an email address, identify a legitimate purpose, and accept Terms of Service.
Remarks of Acting Assistant Secretary Rinaldo at IGF-USA 2019
Remarks of Diane Rinaldo
Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
IGF-USA 2019
Washington, D.C.
July 25, 2019
--As Prepared for Delivery--
Thank you to Melinda and Dustin for the introduction, and for all the work you’ve done to make IGF-USA a success.