[ppml] Policy Proposal 2004-7: Residential Customer Privacy P olicy

[Michael.Dillon at radianz.com]

> In my opinion, most important is to let users know that no business 
activities
> is a requirement if they want their address/name hidden from public 
records,
> i.e. ISP would not just automaticly "hide" customer info just because 
its 
> residential dsl order (as SBC seems to have been doing lately) but would 

> have special form which prints out requirements and customer has to sign 
and 
> return to have his data hidden.

This kind of detailled suggestion sounds like it has
been crafted with the laws of the United States of America
in mind. I'd like to remind y'all that ARIN covers more
than a single legislative jurisdiction and therefore 
ARIN's policies must be compatible with the privacy
laws and customs of more than one country.

In addition, the things that you know about privacy
and public records in the USA may no longer be
true. The new regime imposed after 9/11 has changed
a lot of things and the change is continuing. It
would be a good idea for ARIN to think carefully
about how the whois database facilitates terrorist
attacks, or thwarts terrorist attacks.

Personally, I'm concerned that a whois service
originally designed for the purposes of public
oversight of government funds has been morphed into
a sort of "big brother" style regime where people
are not allowed to have personal secrets. In its
original form, whois published the identities of
people using a service (ARPANET) that was paid
for by public money. The Internet has long since
ceased to be funded by public funds and I see
no good reason to publish so many people's 
information so widely. 

--Michael Dillon
Radianz