New WHOIS rules for Austria’s country code top-level domain

Nic.at, the registry operator for .at – Austria’s country code top-level domain name (ccTLD) – announced changes to its WHOIS system, to bring it in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At the moment, the public WHOIS database of .at contains details on the holders of and contact persons for .at domain names, both natural and legal persons. Under the new rules, WHOIS will only include data of legal persons; domain name registrants who are natural persons will have their data published only if they wish to. According to the registry, ‘natural persons’ domain data will only be accessible to people who identify themselves and have a legitimate legal reason for finding out who the domain holder is’, such as law enforcement agencies and lawyers.