.Cat Registry Whois Now Respects EU Privacy Laws

The .cat domain registry has changed their whois policy and output so that it is compliant with Spanish and EU privacy laws.

As of January 7th private individuals who register (and use) .cat domain names can opt to have their details removed from public whois. Law enforcement and other concerned parties can still gain access to the underlying whois data, but full public access is blocked.

So, for example, one of my personal .cat domains now shows:

whois michele.cat
% puntCAT Whois Server Copyright (C) 2007 Fundacio puntCAT
%
% NOTICE: Access to puntCAT Whois information is provided to assist in
% determining the contents of an object name registration record in the
% puntCAT database. The data in this record is provided by puntCAT for
% informational purposes only, and puntCAT does not guarantee its
% accuracy. This service is intended only for query-based access. You
% agree that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that,
% under no circumstances will you use this data to: (a) allow, enable,
% or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone or
% facsimile of unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations; or
% (b) enable automated, electronic processes that send queries or data
% to the systems of puntCAT or registry operators, except as reasonably
% necessary to register object names or modify existing registrations.
% All rights reserved. puntCAT reserves the right to modify these terms at
% any time. By submitting this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
%
% This domain has chosen privacy settings according to the European
% data protection framework provisions.
%
% Should you need to contact the registrant, please see
% http://www.domini.cat/contact-registrant
%
% For law enforcement and trademark protection purposes, see
% http://www.domini.cat/whois-access
%
% In case of technical problems, please see
% http://www.domini.cat/report-problem
%
Domain ID: REG-D1167387
Domain Name: michele.cat
Domain Name ACE: michele.cat
Domain Language: ca
Registrar ID: R-2029 (Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd)
Created On: 2013-01-08 17:42:18 GMT
Last Updated On: 2013-01-09 16:31:20 GMT
Expiration Date: 2014-01-08 17:42:18 GMT
Maintainer: http://www.blacknight.com
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: ns1.blacknight.com
Name Server ACE: ns1.blacknight.com
Name Server: ns2.blacknight.com
Name Server ACE: ns2.blacknight.com

 

While this clear difference between “commercial” and “personal” domain registrations is accepted and respected by a lot of ccTLDs the only other gTLD that offers it is .tel

Maybe in light of the Article 29 Working Party letter to ICANN this could change, though I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Here’s the full release from .cat on the new policy:

Sant Cugat del Vallès, January 10th 2013

.cat domain protects personal data of their registrants

After years of negotiations between Fundació puntCAT and ICANN, .cat is one of the first TLDs in the world to offer the maximum level of privacy to registrants who use their domains for private purposes.
.cat registrars have implemented this advanced service and from January 7th they offer it to the 61.750 current registered .cat and to any new .cat
Up until January 7th, any .cat domain name registrant had his/her personal data available to the general public via whois, the informative tool that allows checking the contact information associated to a given domain, such as the name and surnames of its registrant and his postal or e-mail address. ICANN, the entity that
regulates the use of Internet domains, requires the public availability of this data. Therefore, all generic domains have to offer the whole set of data through the whois service. However, Fundació puntCAT has worked since its inception to offer more privacy to private individuals. Since this week, individuals making a private use of their .cat can choose non disclosure of the data associated to the domain name.
.cat leading the advancement of the domain name industry Fundació puntCAT has secured a reputation as industry leader through its constant advancement in the latest technological innovations. .cat now offers with this policy change a pioneer service to the community. The improvement in the privacy settings in the whois service is the most privacy friendly and registrant oriented within the generic TLDs. A model that has already raised great expectations among other operators.
Fundació puntCAT offers this new added-value service in full alignment with the highest degree of respect to the European and Spanish data protection regulations. Thanks to the collaboration of .cat domains’ registrars, this improvement is offered  by default and for free in the .cat domain names registration process .cat domains’ registrars offering this service.
Legacy .cat domain names registered before the effective implementation of this service can also activate the protection of their personal data, as according to the new policy. In order to do so, registrants must activate the new settings from the control panel of their registrar.

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