[gnso-rds-pdp-wg] Dangers of public whois

Tue Feb 14 02:14:58 UTC 2017

I have to strongly agree with Alex that whatever the criteria are for 
thin data, they cannot include that thin data "is transitive" in some 
sort of bread crumb trail manner.

Everything is potentially transitive in that sense. I observe a vehicle 
but all I get is make, model and license plate, and in most 
jurisdictions that is all I get. It is the vehicle owner's "thin data". 
Of course I can hang around, see that the car has a baby seat, witness a 
woman or man putting a child in the car, assume that she/he has 
legitimate access to the car, follow the car and assemble more personal 
information (lives at; works at; shops at; visits;) The license plate 
didn't facilitate that crumb train discovery, but no license plate would 
hamper legitimate seeking of information about who owns the car (issuing 
a parking ticket, LEA investigation, etc.) . License plate is part of 
thin data with no gated access. Of course, this will change in the era 
of the digital vehicle. Depending on security, and authorization, one 
will be able to just ask the car, and ask about a lot of things...like 
whose cell phone was in the passenger's seat last night, when I was 
supposed to be alone )-:

There needs to be a similar balance (license plate but no owner's name 
unless wanted, like Sam's Curry Pizza Barn logo, phone number and 
website URL painted on the side).

More Important, have we made progress (convergence) on the working 
principles that should be brought to bear in building a thin data set. A 
lot of time has been spent looking at good case and bad case scenarios. 
What operational principles have been distilled from all these examples? 
What is the balance between thin data inclusion and exclusion, and 
design and technical solutions that can be used to prevent (for example) 
robotic harvesting? There is another frontier here, and that is what 
governments will do to restrain or enable certain uses of thin data? 
While ICANN needs to be aware of what is going on there, that part is 
beyond ICANN's remit, but those policies will help shape some of the 
context within which ICANN deals with the thin data task.

Sam L

On 2017-02-14 1:23 AM, Deacon, Alex wrote:
> All,
>
> So it seems the debate has progressed from “thin data” to “thick data” (i.e. data that includes email).  I know we are all super excited to talk about “thick data” but I don’t think we are there yet (are we?  Hopefully I didn’t miss the party…)
>
> Focusing on thin data for the moment I struggle to understand how it is personal data.  I do not believe it is.    As for the odd logic proposed by some that the property of privacy is transitive (i.e. Because “thin data” can be used to link/point/discover other data then “thin data” equals “personal data”) I just don’t buy it.
>
> I don’t disagree with much of what was expressed in this thread, however we must keep in mind that balance and proportionality are important concepts in many (all?) data privacy laws.   Any arguments that imply that no such balance exists (or should exist) is obstructive IMO.
>
> Alex
>
>
> On 2/13/17, 5:42 AM,  <gnso-rds-pdp-wg-bounces at icann.org on behalf of michele at blacknight.com> wrote:
>
>      I agree and I know from how I’ve used various email addresses that they are actively being harvested and spammed.
>      
>      Also it’s one of the biggest sources of complaints we get from our clients (registrants)
>      
>      It’s definitely not an “edge case”.
>      
>      Regards
>      
>      Michele
>      
>      
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