Question: It's one thing that ICANN steers away from prescribing privacy policies, how much will ICANN comply/cooperate with federal requirements to disclose? It would be reassuring if the future person-in-charge understands the complex privacy issues beyond the position of non-invovlement.

Nominee Replies

Barbara Simons - posted on 2000-10-05 15:22:07 I have been concerned about privacy issues for many years, and I am a member of the Board of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). Of course ICANN must comply with federal privacy laws. But there is also a privacy issue with the whois database. If I am elected to the Board, I shall attempt to get the whois database modified in the following ways: 1. require authentication prior to giving access to the database; 2. log acesses (after authentication); 3. notify the person whose record has been accessed. Harris Miller - posted on 2000-09-29 12:07:42 As a private non-profit corporation, ICANN is already subject to state and federal laws, including disclosure. As a Board member of several for profit and non profit organizations, I know the importance of ensuring corporate compliance with relevant laws. ICANN should be and is no different. Lyman Chapin - posted on 2000-09-29 11:33:30 I agree that ICANN's directors should understand privacy issues well beyond a position of non-involvement, but ICANN has no authority to decide whether or not it will comply with the law. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-09-25 00:25:05 As long as ICANN is a U.S. nonprofit corporation, it will be subject to state and federal laws regarding privacy. As director, I would insist that ICANN comply with federal disclosure requirements. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-09-24 13:19:35 ICANN has no choice but to comply with federal law, including federal privacy law. My point has been that ICANN is not itself to become a privacy regulator -- or any regulator at all.