Domain names: ICANN launches information request service

At the end of November 2023, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that manages the global domain name system, launched the “Registration Data Request Service” (RDRS), a one-stop shop for submitting domain name registration data requests.

A significant number of companies market domain names around the world. Each registrar has its own internal database. For each domain name, it specifies the owner’s name, address, telephone number and email address. Until 2018, most of this data was publicly available through WHOIS, a database request system.

In May 2018, in order to comply with the GDPR, ICANN demanded registrars hide the data. Since then, each registrar must be contacted directly in order to obtain information on a domain name owner, including in the context of an investigation.

The RDRS should provide investigators and cybersecurity researchers with a single tool to gather information more quickly and reliably. It should therefore facilitate investigations into fraudulent domain names. Participation is not mandatory for registrars, but strongly encouraged by ICANN.