Indeed - thanks, Stephanie. What do you think the odds are of this
becoming actual legislation?
Julf
On 21-09-2022 23:14, Stephanie E Perrin wrote:
> This is very welcome news, particularly for those of us fighting in the
> trenches here to protect privacy.
>
> Stephanie Perrin
>
> *Subject:* Wyden, Eshoo Lead Bicameral Effort Urging NTIA to Protect
> Website Owners’ Personal Information, Quickly Adopt Strong Privacy
> Protections
>
> https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/XlXTZe5foxx8e9I7p5uo8g6zPy9owFYd4u2uAEio5Ll1CsMbWs8X9NtdP-de_d3aMbL9l-TrPFFGYRZIKj3Ky-kJ9xCCSg_f7FNnbmkWdnQfc8RZkjsXU4L_sW1oUW8NBXq2XM7imKWNhGAC3p8TM0fqxkpGehUcWkuNtuwkRQoorS_FR0Pp5DUYmw
>
> *For Immediate Release**: September 21, 2022*
>
> Contact: Keith Chu <mailto:[log in to unmask]> (Wyden) (202)
> 224-5244
>
> *Wyden, Eshoo Lead Bicameral Effort Urging NTIA to Protect Website
> Owners’ Personal Information, Quickly Adopt Strong Privacy Protections *
>
> */Washington, D.C./*– U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S.
> Representative Anna G. Eshoo, D-Calif., today led a bicameral effort
> urging the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
> (NTIA) to upgrade its privacy practices to protect the personal
> information of .US users.
>
> Domain registration information contains highly sensitive personal
> information. These records include names, email addresses, physical
> addresses and phone numbers. Domain name users can be anyone, including
> journalists, activists and public interest, political and religious
> organizations.
>
> *“It is highly concerning that NTIA, since at least 2005, has not
> directed its contractors**administering .US to adopt any protections for
> this sensitive information. The automatic public disclosure of users’
> personal information puts them at enhanced risk for becoming victims of
> identity theft, spamming, spoofing, doxxing, online harassment, and even
> physical harm,” *the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to NTIA Assistant
> Secretary and Administrator, Alan Davidson. *“.US should be a model of
> the United States’ values with regard to online privacy and expression.
> In addition to putting users at risk of abuse of their information, the
> current lack of privacy protections chills vibrant expression and
> important speech online. Anonymity is a necessary component of the
> American right to free speech.”*
>
> **
>
> There is little evidence that the continued public disclosure of this
> information makes the global internet any less safe or secure. In fact,
> despite the domain industry increasing privacy protections for users
> over the last several years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
> and Numbers (ICANN) has recently observed that the number of domains
> responsible for phishing, malware, spam and botnets has declined.
>
> In their letter, the lawmakers highlighted appropriate measures NTIA
> could implement to correct for decades of inaction to protect privacy in
> .US, including:
>
> * Offering privacy to users free of charge and automatically upon
> registration.
> * Requiring a user’s affirmative, informed consent for transferring
> user data to third parties, including public disclosure.
> * Requiring governments, including our own, to seek a warrant or other
> appropriate legal process when requesting access to .US user data.
> * Alerting users whenever governments – especially adversaries like
> Russia and China – have sought access to their information.
>
> NTIA has the opportunity to model a more secure and private system for
> registering internet domains through its control of .US, the members
> wrote. Adding new privacy protections to .US could provide a global
> model for privacy best-practices for protecting domain name user data.
>
> The letter was co-signed by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and
> Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu, D-Calif.,
> Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Tom
> Malinowski, D-N.J., and Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass.
>
> Read the full letter here
> <https://www.wyden.senate.gov/download/wyden-eshoo-letter-to-ntia-on-privacy-in-us>.
>
>
> A web version of this release is here
> <https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-eshoo-lead-bicameral-effort-urging-ntia-to-protect-website-owners-personal-information-quickly-adopt-strong-privacy-protections->.
>
>
> ###
>
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