ICANN - Respect Our Privacy

[James Matheson <fractal.mango@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN –

I am writing regarding the proposed rules governing companies that provide
WHOIS privacy services (as set forth in the Privacy and Policy Services
Accreditation Issues Policy document):

I urge you to respect internet users' rights to privacy and due process.
- Everyone deserves the right to privacy.
- No one’s personal information should be revealed without a court order,
regardless of whether the request comes from a private individual or law
enforcement agency.
- It is already difficult to maintain privacy on he internet and avoid
unwanted advertising and solicitation. Small business in particular will be
hugely disadvantaged by forcing owners to reveal their home address to the
general public. It should not be necessary to give away such personal
information particularly if the reason for request is hostile. It opens up
the door for identity theft on a wide scale.

ICANN should be making policy to make the internet a better place. Allowing
all and sundry to see WHOIS information will make an already bad privacy
situation worse. The authorities that need to see this information already
have an avenue to obtain it. The only groups who would benefit from this
policy are advertisers, personal information pedallers and criminals.

Thanks and Regards

James Matheson