ICANN WHOIS & Data Protection Event

The seminar is organized by İstanbul Bilgi University Information Technology Law Institute in cooperation with ICANN.

In May, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect. The impact of this law will extend beyond the European Union changing how companies around the world treat the personal data they process. One area that will be effected by this new regulation are the companies that people register website domains with. Currently these companies are required by ICANN, the global domain name authority, to publish the contact information of people who have registered websites to the WHOIS, a protocol for looking up this contact information. With the enforcement of the GDPR approaching, ICANN is looking at new models to replace the WHOIS. In the face of possible changes, some worry that without the WHOIS it will be harder to track scammers and malware on the internet, while others argue the WHOIS is unnecessary and violates a person’s right to privacy. In this seminar, experts from ICANN as well as the director of BİLGİ Information Technology Law Institute, Assoc. Prof. Leyla Keser, will be to see what options ICANN has in the face of stricter privacy laws around the world.

Attendance is free with limited seating.