[dow3] Comment on DOW of Task Force 3 - ICANN Review of WHOIS database
Dear Sir or Madam, Our organization makes the following comments on the work of task force 3: Comment: The description of work for this Task Force incorrectly assumes that all information under all circumstances must be accurate. There may be public policy reasons, including human rights concerns, that require exceptions to such a rule. It is critical that the Task Force description of work be modified to include an evaluation of such situations. Further, the description of work misinterprets the term "data quality" (a Principle of the 1980 OECD Privacy Guidelines, http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/9302011E.PDF), and in doing so distorts and minimizes data quality protections. The full definition of "data quality" must be included in this description of work, and its range of protections evaluated by this Task Force. Proposed changes to Task Force 3 Description of Work: 1. Under Description of Task Force, after paragraph 3, add: "The principle of data quality is: 'personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date.' OECD Principles, see, e.g., http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/DV/OECDPs.html." 2. Current Paragraph 4 (to follow insertion above), should then be modified to include the text in brackets below: "The main issues associated with data quality include: - [collection of personal data only relevant for the purposes for which they are being used]; - verification of data at the time of registration; - ongoing maintenance of data during the period of registration; - protecting against deliberate submission of false information [except in those situations where the globally available nature of the WHOIS data should require exceptions for public policy and human rights reasons.] 3. To the Tasks/Milestones sections, we strongly recommend modifying the text of sections 2 and 4, to include the text in brackets below: - "collect publicly available information on the techniques used by other online service providers (to verify that data collected is correct) as well as information on the price of services, offered by the online service provider [as well as information on the level of privacy protection accorded the data, including to whom and under what circumstances the data is provided];" - "determine whether any changes are required in the contracts to specify what data verification is necessary at time of collection to improve accuracy [and what exceptions based on public policy and human rights should be included]. I am the person in this organization responsible for the issue. Thank you. John Lawford Barrister & Solicitor Research Analyst Public Interest Advocacy Centre ONE Nicholas Street, Suite 1204 Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7B7 (613) 562-4002 x25 (613) 562-0007 (Fax) |