The anonymization of WHOIS data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has significantly impacted spam emails, according to findings from a field experiment published by policy expert Tobias Sattler after a year-long investigation.
The GDPR, implemented on May 25, 2018, aimed to give EU citizens greater control over their personal data and enhance online and offline security. Its effects on the Domain Name System were profound, as the once-public WHOIS system, which disclosed domain ownership and contact details, became largely obsolete due to potential fines. Sattler’s study, titled WHOIS Data Redaction and its Impact on Unsolicited Emails: A Field Experiment, explores whether limited WHOIS access since 2018 has reduced spam, phishing, and other abuses, or if spammers have adapted their strategies.
To investigate, Sattler registered 66 generic top-level domains (.com, .xyz, .shop) via 11 registrars between July and August 2022. Half of the domains had publicly available registration data, while the other half had their data redacted under GDPR rules. Unique email addresses were set up for each domain, and unsolicited emails, including commercial, promotional, or malicious emails not explicitly requested by the domain owner, were monitored over a year.
The results were revealing:
• Domains with public WHOIS data received an average of 19.7 emails per domain, compared to 4.2 for domains with redacted data.
• Specifically for spam emails, public domains averaged 12.76 spam emails per domain, while redacted domains received only 0.12 on average.
The findings also highlighted that .com domains attracted significantly more spam than other domain extensions.
Sattler concluded that the availability of WHOIS data, top-level domain selection, and registrar practices significantly influence spam email volumes. His study emphasizes the importance of careful domain registration decisions and invites further dialogue on internet governance and domain name management policies:
“By understanding how data redaction influences communication channels, we can better evaluate current policies and anticipate future trends.”
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