Slashdot Mirror
Exposing Personal Information in the Whois Database
rocketjam writes "In a letter to U.S. Representatives Lamar S. Smith and Howard L. Berman, the Center for Democracy and Technology has raised the issue of privacy problems with the Whois Database. Acknowledging the database is uncontroversial for commercial registrations, the letter points that private individuals who register a domain name expose their names, home addresses, home phone numbers, and home e-mail addresses to the world. The letter warns, 'The current Whois regime is on a collision course with public sensitivities and international law. In an era of concern about identity theft and online security, it is unwise to require millions of individual registrants to place their home phone numbers, home addresses, and personal email accounts into a publicly available database that places no restrictions on the use of that data.' Additionally, the letter points out the current policy violates the privacy laws of some nations."
I've got kind of an odd view on privacy. If you don't want someone to know you did something, don't do it. If you don't want someone to know you smoke pot, don't smoke it.
That being said, in registering a domain, you have two options. Register the domain and have your information available out there or if you do not want people to know you have registered a domain don't do it.
It is not your right to have a domain name registered to you. It is a privilege. Privileges come at a cost, and in this case the cost is your personal information.
Just my thoughts.