[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] Why the thin data is necessary
Sam Lanfranco
sam at lanfranco.net
Tue Jun 6 21:05:27 UTC 2017
In the memorable movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, there is the
line: “When it is finished it will be perfect, and if it is not perfect
it is not finished”. The way forward here is: “If it is open access it
is thin data, and if it is not open access it is not thin data”.
Equating thin data with open access helps focus the discussion on the
issue of what should be in thin data, and removes the complication of
determining levels of, and tools for, authentication to gated elements
in thin data.
Reserve gated access as an issue for thick data. Treat access abuse as a
separate partially technical and partially policy issue. Tradeoffs have
to be weighed as between access, no data, and scope for data abuse, on a
field by field basis.
For personal privacy issues there are two levels of concern. One is with
regard to who am I, and how to reach me. The other is my composite
profile build from what I say and do in the Internet ecosystem
(websites, social media, etc.). Both are important for privacy, and
while we can seek to set maximum privacy with regard to the content of
RDS thin data, one’s overall privacy and anonymity are more a function
of one’s behavior within the broader Internet ecosystem.
Issues arising from that mix of factors need to be addressed elsewhere.
Trying to anticipate all situations with an ideal thin data is
impossible. Problems will come back to ICANN policy making when issues,
legal or otherwise, arise involving the role of thin data in personal
privacy and desired anonymity. Such is the nature of reality.
Sam Lanfranco
More information about the gnso-rds-pdp-wg
mailing list