As the Registry Operator for the .biz top-level domain, it is our responsibility to provide a safe and secure namespace for our registrants and users.  We do so, among other ways, by adhering to international best practices for online security and safety and complying with mandates defined by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is the non-profit partnership responsible for developing and implementing policies that keep the Internet secure, stable and interoperable across the globe.

On May 17, 2018, the Board of Directors of ICANN unanimously adopted a new guideline for all contracted Registry Operators (including the .biz Registry) which will impact the way personal data is collected, displayed and shared for .biz domain name registrants.

When you register a .biz domain name, your domain name provider collects certain information about the domain registration, including the name, address and contact information of the registrant, among other things. As a Registry Operator, we collect this information from domain providers, and make it publicly available in the WHOIS database. WHOIS is an online database of information associated with registered domain names.

While there are a number of valid reasons for publishing registration data (including policy compliance, intellectual property protection, law enforcement, security research and commercial transactions) – unfortunately, the personally identifiable information of domain registrants is sometimes misused by spammers and other bad actors intent on gathering your personal data for nefarious purposes.

Effective as of May 25, 2018, the way people access registration data has been updated – and personally identifiable information will no longer be available on an initial WHOIS database search.  Personal data will be protected from the initial search with an added level of security. Legitimate data requests will still be afforded the full data view upon submitting a formal request to a domain provider, and proactively verifying that the data will be used for legitimate purposes.

The .biz Registry is committed to protecting the personal privacy and data of residents and business owners by preventing our registrants from being harmed by those intent on misusing private data; and afford those with a legitimate need to continue to access personally identifiable contact information as previously available.

If you have any questions or concerns, please send us an email at support@neustar.biz.