On 26 November, 2025, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held a Webinar ‘Key Insights from the Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) Two-Year Pilot and Next Steps‘. The RDRS offers a standardized format for submitting requests to access generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) nonpublic registration data for those with a legitimate interest (such as consumer protection advocates, cybersecurity specialists, government officials, intellectual property professionals, law enforcement personnel, ICANN community members and others). This session includes a comprehensive look at the program’s operational impact, and next steps to ensure RDRS includes the enhancements the ICANN Board and community see as necessary for a long-term solution.
The Registrant Data Request Service (RDRS) is a pilot project — ICANN’s first effort, since WHOISwas disrupted by the GDPR — to centralize and standardize the triage of requests for non-public registration data. It does this by providing a unified form and routing system that directs such requests to participating (opt-in) registrars.
By creating a common pathway for registrars to receive requests, RDRS raises fundamental questions about how disclosure decisions are made: when does a requester’s “legitimate interest” outweigh the registrant’s right to privacy, and how should the fundamental rights balancing test be applied across jurisdictions? This session provided an initial human rights impact assessment of the system, asking what aspects of disclosure triage can be standardized in a rights-respecting way beyond the form itself. This session aimed to go beyond the report and situate the conversation on broader challenges, such as cases where abuse is real but not obvious outside certain linguistic or cultural contexts (e.g. phishing against banks that are household names in one market but obscure elsewhere); the uneven practices of registries and registrars regarding disclosure.
WELCOME Lars Steffen, Director of International, eco
SPEAKERS Odeline MacDonald, Associate General Counsel, European Data Protection, CIPP/E, CIPM, ICANN Adam Peake, Global Stakeholder Engagement, ICANN
Sarah Wyld, Policy & Privacy Manager, Tucows
Prudence Malinki, Markmonitor MODERATOR Thomas Rickert, Director Names & Numbers, eco – Association of the Internet Industry
In November 2023, ICANN launched the official system for access to non-public domain name registration information, known as the Registration Data Request Service, or RDRS. Even though multistakeholder consultations took place during the creation of the RDRS, many questions remain, including, among others, how the system actually functions, the mechanisms in place for monitoring and controlling access to this data, who can actually request data and the role of the registries in fulfilling requests. This event provides an opportunity for the non-commercial community to to learn about the RDRS and how it is used by ICANN and some registrars.
INTRODUCTION Kathy Kleiman – NCSG / American University Washington College of Law Wisdom Donkor – NCSG / UN IGF MAG
PRESENTERS Diana Middleton, Senior Program Manager, ICANN Sarah Wyld, Policy & Data Privacy Manager, Tucows Reg Levy, Head of Compliance, Tucows
VIDEO | AUDIO | RECAP | ARCHIVE | PERMALINK
