ICANN84 | Annual General Meeting

16:30 UTC, 29 October 2025
16:30 UTC, 29 October 2025
Wicklow Hall 1 - Level 2
ID# 17288
 
Session Details
ICANN policy requires domain name registrants to provide “accurate WHOIS contact data” and to keep that information up to date throughout the registration period. Failure to comply can lead to suspension of the domain name. But what does accuracy really mean — and what should it mean?
Some actors within ICANN and beyond argue that accurate WHOIS data must include identity verification — a form of Know Your Customer (KYC) to help mitigate DNS abuse, cybercrime, and content-related harms (which is outside of ICANN mandate). Others believe this interpretation is a dangerous distortion of ICANN’s policies and threatens fundamental rights. It can also have an impact on access to domain names and diminish people’s online presence. Accuracy is about contactability, and it should be limited to that.
This session will ask: Can we preserve anonymity and human rights while still promoting security and accountability online?
Is the push for accuracy really a cure, or is it a lure into a future of centralized surveillance and exclusion?
GNSO Policy Briefing: https://go.icann.org/gnsobriefing
Agenda wiki page: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/NADKGg
 
Session Leader: Andrea Glandon
Staff Facilitator: Andrea Glandon
 
Session Recordings
Zoom Archive
English audio archive