On 9 January 2011 18:31, Karl Auerbach <karl@cavebear.com> wrote:
We seem to be engaged in a game in which the needs of "law enforcement" are being used as an excuse to open personal data to everyone, law enforcement or not.
The flip side of openness is accountability. Freedom of speech is usually accompanied by the requirement to be responsible for what one says. It is not a defense to, say, slander, to argue that one's right to privacy entitles you to say anything about anyone then duck for cover behind a wall of obfuscation. As a result, newspapers have traditionally not allowed unsigned letters to be published -- while most will respect a request to withhold the signature, the newspaper will still retain it in case *it* is sued. The car analogy was used earlier. I'm not aware of any jurisdiction on earth that doesn't have government-issued plates used to identify a cars owner. It is usually illegal to have incorrect identity information attached to license plate data. Proxies (such as leasing or rental agencies) are common, but they maintain accurate records regarding possession (if not ownership) of the car at any particular time. And as far as I know, access to car-ownership data is used not just by law enforcement but also by insurance companies, credit bureaus, etc. While such access is explicitly acknowledged by the owner, it's usually given in order to get access to something else (insurance, credit, etc). Furthermore, I would note that many jurisdictions make a distinction between commercial and non-commercial use of cars. In most North American jurisdictions, the license plates are a different colour and there are different fees and requirements,. Anyone who was in Cartagena must have noticed that all commercial vehicles -- not just taxis -- had their license plate number painted on the sides. Where I live in Ontario, Canada, commercial vehicles *must* display the name of the vehicle's owner on the side. (Most tractor-trailer cabs going interstate do this.) Why can't these principles -- widely understood in other realms, including those that value privacy -- be adapted for DNS? My own view, based on this is that: - It should be a criminal offence to have incorrect information attached to a WHOIS entry - While proxies may be used, the proxy listed must be legally responsible to have accurate info on the owner - Owners may grant (non-law-enforcement) access to their info by contract and proxies must honour such requests - Commercial domain operators (that is, those who use websites on those domains to conduct transactions or display advertising) may not use proxies What is the argument against this? What right to privacy -- or to obfuscate their identify -- exists for those who engage in financial transactions? (Outside of Switzerland, that is) - Evan