Is your inbox also filled with GDPR linked privacy updates? WHOIS, the tool with which you can look up names and contact details of owners of domain names, had to make a couple changes too in order to be inline with the GDPR law.
As a quick reminder, GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. This regulation has gone in effect May 25th 2018. The main objective is to provide internet users with more information and control in regards to the data they share online.
WHOIS
WHOIS is a protocol that enables you to find the names and contact details of the owners of a domain name. The protocol is indispensable for domain name services (DNS) and is widely used to determine whether or not a given domain is available or to associate a company, organization, or individual with a domain name (e.g. is your domain name available).
With GDPR personal data can no longer be shown in order to protect the privacy of individuals. This of course has impact on the WHOIS tool, which you can use to request contact information of registrants.
Changes for privately owned .be domain names
Only the e-mail address and selected languages will be visible when doing a WHOIS lookup for private .be domains. As of now WHOIS will no longer show personal data in anyway.
To enable everyone to contact a private domain name holder, DNS.be will provide a contact form on their website that will help getting in contact with the registrant of a domain name.
Changes for .be domain names owned by a legal person (company)
The data of organizations remains visible during a WHOIS search. The name field (containing the individual name), will no longer be shown in the search results. This is the case also for .vlaanderen- en .brussels-domeinnamen.
Are you wondering if your domain name is still available? Or would you like to register a domain name? On the Kinamo website you can look up and register domain names of with more then 250 international domain name extensions.
And, in case you where wondering, Kinamo too has updated its privacy policy.
