Could bitcointalk get fines and lawsuits under new Euro privacy rules?
Can a US based forum can get fines and lawsuits for breaking EU rules?
The EU is introducing new privacy legislation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It comes into force on May 25.
As far as I understand it publishing contact data like name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax number for members of the European public could result in fines and lawsuits. It's OK to publish it if the owner has given permission, otherwise it seems to be violating the new EU rules.
I have occasionally seen such information published here. Could bitcointalk get fines and lawsuits for publishing it after May 25?
There are fears that the Whois Domain database service "will effectively shut down in order to avoid fines and possible lawsuits under the new Euro rules".
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/16/whois_gdpr_icann/Industry insiders fear that, without agreement, the Whois service, which publicly lists full contact details of domain-name registrants, will effectively shut down in order to avoid fines and possible lawsuits under the Euro rules.
That would leave law enforcement and intellectual property lawyers, among others, unable to access registrant details, and potentially give cybercriminals a larger window to carry out crimes.
The solution adopted by the company that runs Austria's top-level domain is to only consider publishing a name, address, e-mail address, telephone and fax number for a company. Such information for members of the European public won't be published.
The same day it became clear ICANN was not going to reach agreement, the company that runs Austria's top-level domain .at, NIC.at, announced it was making its own changes.
"Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), nic.at will only publish legal persons' data from mid-May 2018. Natural persons can still have their data published if they wish," the outfit stated.
"In future the data shown for domains owned by natural persons will only include the domain name, the registrar responsible and necessary technical information. If a company or organization owns the domain, the holder’s name and address will still be published, although contact data like e-mail address, telephone and fax number can be hidden upon request," it summarized.
