The severity of a Google Apps bug that failed to communicate with the eNom API that domains due for renewal had to renew the WHOIS privacy feature also, has been blown out of proportion.
Under the current contract between Verisign and ICANN for .com and .net domains, the WHOIS information is public; the option to hide it via the use of various ‘shields’ is an add-on feature, designed by the Registrars, such as eNom and others, to make additional money from domain registrants that require a level of relative privacy.
While I do understand the frustration of those whose domains had the WHOIS privacy removed for an unspecified period of time, this incident has been twisted, for the most part, by technology publications that chose to portray it as if it were a security lapse or breach of sorts.
The nature of information provided during the registration of a domain name can most definitely be used by cybercriminals and spammers alike. The same can be said for any catalog, such as the White or Yellow Pages.
Other TLDs, particularly in Europe, do not disclose any information about the domain owner.
For example the dot .GR registry of Greece does not disclose any information about the registrant by default. The dot .EU registry does not allow the public sharing of information either, while the dot .CO.UK registry gives the domain owner the ability to disclose or hide it.
The fact remains that more than 282,000 domains lost a service that their owners paid for, along with a temporary false sensation of privacy. However, that incident does not warrant the type of coverage it received by the media not familiar with the incident’s background, or the domain industry.
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