DENIC eG

11/01/2024 | News release | Archived content

News 1 November 2024: New Legislation ahead: What is Changing for Users of DENIC’s Whois Lookup

New legal requirements will apply in Germany presumably from the 2nd quarter of 2025 which will also have an impact on DENIC's business processes.

These relate to

  • the data to be collected during domain registration and the verification of this data [1]
  • the registration data made publicly available via the whois lookup (Domain Query) tool [2]

All whois-related amendments at a glance:

  • All legal entities' holder data will be published.
  • All private individuals' personal holder data will continue to NOT being published.
  • For each domain, the date of registration will be published.
  • For each domain, the registrar's name and contact data will be published.

What changes does the new legislation bring to the data disclosed via DENIC's Domain Query (whois) tool?

Even after the new legal requirements take effect presumably from the 2nd quarter of 2025, users will still be able to retrieve certain information on registered .de domains via DENIC's website, by searching the Domain Query (whois [2]) tool. However, there will be several amendments as to which data can be retrieved, depending on the type of domain holder.

Firstly, registration data will be fully disclosed in case the domain holder is a legal entity, i.e. a company or any other kind of organization. This includes the holder's name and postal address as well as their contact e-mail address and telephone number. Also shown in query results will be when the domain in question was registered, as well as the name and contact details of DENIC's member registrar who administers the domain.

Secondly, holder-related data will continue to NOT being disclosed via the Domain Query (whois) tool if the holder is a private individual, due to their data being personal data as defined by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In such cases, nothing but the date when the domain was registered and the name and contact details of DENIC's member registrar who administers the domain will be disclosed.

Moreover, domain holders will still have access via the Domain Query (whois) tool to their own data maintained in DENIC's database as regards a certain domain. To view the related data, authorization has to be provided by the holders' entering their postal code or contact e-mail address registered with DENIC, this way prompting a message to be sent to the said address, containing a time-based access link.

How can access be gained to the holder data of domains registered by private individuals?

In addition to the new legislation, the provisions of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will continue to apply, meaning that still no holder data classified as personal data will be made publicly available via the Domain Query (whois [2]) tool on DENIC's website.

However, the holder data of private individuals may be requested and will be disclosed by DENIC on a case-by-case basis, upon submission of substantiated evidence of a legitimate interest, to such parties who own a right to a name or trademark that may be infringed by a domain, to insolvency practitioners, or to claimants who have obtained an enforceable title against a domain holder. For these groups of access seekers, DENIC continues to provide specialized forms facilitating requests for the disclosure of dedicated holder information [3].

Background to the described amendments is Germany's national law supposed to implement the stipulations of the EU's NIS2 Directive from the 2nd quarter of 2025. NIS stands for Network Information Security and refers to the approach of implementing measures for a high common level of cybersecurity to protect network and information systems across the European Union. NIS2 repeals and modernizes the framework of the NIS1 Directive, which came into force in 2016.

[1] Reference to follow soon

[2] https://webwhois.denic.de/?lang=en

[3] https://www.denic.de/en/service/whois-service/third-party-requests-for-holder-data