CENTR, the association which represents European national top-level domain name registries (ccTLDs) such as .si or .eu, has published a White Paper on registration data accuracy in European national domain registries.
Registration data accuracy has increasingly come under the spotlight in the regulatory sphere, both at national and European levels, as can be seen by the recent finalisation of the NIS 2 Directive negotiations that introduce data accuracy obligations on domain name registries and entities providing domain name registration services in the EU.
The aim of this White Paper is to shed light on existing practices of maintaining domain name registration databases accurate and up to date across European ccTLDs. These existing practices may serve as guidance for the domain name industry, policymakers, law enforcement authorities and CSIRTs when addressing the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive.
Some of the key findings include:
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Data accuracy within the domain name space refers to a set of various technical, contractual and regulatory obligations. Registrant identification data verification is only a subset of the overall accuracy discussion when it comes to the DNS. Despite increased regulatory attention towards registrant identification data verification, accuracy discussions within the domain name space require a careful equilibrium between all compliance areas applicable to domain name registries.
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Registrant identification data collection, validation and verification practices differ across European ccTLDs, depending on local requirements and restrictions or the relevance (e.g. language) or availability (e.g. eID) of specific data sets. Due to these local particularities, there is no guarantee that simply adopting one policy or method from a country will lead to the same results in another country.
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European ccTLDs have consistently been referred to as providing the ‘best practices’ on tackling a variety of societal concerns, such as wider cybersecurity and promoting trust online, despite the absence of uniform practices for addressing registration data accuracy.
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The diversity in process and policies related to registration data accuracy provides structural strength to the European DNS space as it avoids single points of failure and creates a marketplace of ideas that encourages innovation.
Please see the rest of the key findings and the paper in full here.
