Changes are on the way for what was once a playground for spammers and anyone else wanting to obtain personal information about Canadian domain owners.
The standard is changing for domain owners on dot-ca, who have traditionally been required to provide detailed personal information for claiming their spot on the World Wide Web. Individuals who own domain names and previously been ordered to divulge personal details to the “Whois” system, which is a searchable function and provides the domain owner’s name, home address, phone number and email.
“It’s a treasure trove for spammers,” said Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law.
“We’re talking about one of the largest freely available online directories of personal information in the country,” he said.
Canadian domain names recently hit the one million mark this year and have been increasing by over 600 each day since then.
The new standard is said to put Canada at the forefront of individual privacy protection in the world.
However, law enforcement and intellecutal property lawyers aren’t as thrilled with the new system, as they have used the Whois system in the past to track down cyber criminals and copyright violators.
The changes are set to be made on June 10 and only Canadian residents and companies will be able to register domain names. The registration authority will still collect and hold the personal information of the domain owners.