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Privacy Policy

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Superseded by https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy

21 December 2012

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' ("ICANN") respects the protection and privacy of personal information. This statement ("Privacy Statement") sets out how ICANN will use and handle personal information provided by or collected from a user ("User") of its websites or services, including any mobile version of the websites, mobile applications, and other online services (collectively, the "Site").

This Privacy Statement may be supplemented by additional terms and conditions agreed by a User in connection with a specific service provided by ICANN.

Please read this Privacy Statement carefully and review it periodically for the latest information about ICANN's privacy practices. By using the Site, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Statement. If you do not agree with the practices described in this Privacy Statement, please do not provide ICANN with your personal information or interact with the Site.

ICANN will routinely update this Privacy Statement to clarify our practices and to reflect new or different privacy practices, such as when we add new services, functionality or features to the ICANN website. You can determine when this Privacy Statement was last revised by referring to the date it was Last Updated above.

Except as stated here, this Privacy Statement applies to any personal information collected on the Site or provided offline to ICANN in connection with ICANN's services. Personal data in relation to ICANN's new gTLD Program is addressed in a separate personal data privacy statement at http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/program-privacy.

  1. Personal Information Collection

    ICANN will only collect personal information for the purposes necessary to provide a service or perform its functions. Some examples include:

    • Personal information that a User submits to ICANN: This may be personal information such name, address, email address and contact details in connection with an ICANN service or function including for example public comment submissions, community surveys, email list subscription, general enquiries, event registration, etc.
    • Personal information received from a third party: This may include personal information such as name and address to confirm identity or to process a request or an application submitted to ICANN.
    • Automatically logged information: ICANN's Site may automatically record information that is sent by the User's browser when accessing the Site. This information may include information such as IP address, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), date/time stamp, page viewed, operating system, mobile device data, and other similar data. ICANN uses this information to analyze usage for the purpose of improving Site performance and its services.
    • Cookies: Cookies and other user tracking devices (e.g., local shared objects) may be stored on the User's computer when using ICANN's Site. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. ICANN uses session ID cookies to confirm that a User is logged in. These cookies terminate once the User closes the browser. ICANN may also deploy persistent cookies to improve User services, including by storing user preferences and tracking user trends. While most browsers are set to accept cookies and other tracking devices by default, Users are always free to decline cookies if the browser permits, however this may affect the Site or User service working properly. The browser manufacturer has information on changing the default setting for that specific browser. User acknowledges the use of such tracking devices as noted in this Privacy Statement, and hereby consents to having such tracking devices stored on the User's computing devices.

  2. Personal Information Use

    ICANN will use personal information generally to:

    • Provide information or a service requested or consented by the User.
    • Assist in the performance of its activities and public interest functions.
    • Perform relevant contractual obligations with the User and other third parties.
    • Improve ICANN's Site content.
    • Assist in policy discussion and development activities.

    ICANN will not use personal information for any other purpose than for which it was collected unless:

    • The User has consented.
    • ICANN is required to disclose that information by law or to otherwise protect ICANN's, a User, or the public's interest (See Section 3 below).

    ICANN may include User's personal information in publishing User's comments or feedback on the ICANN Site for the benefit of others or to comply with ICANN's accountability and transparency principles located at http://www.icann.org/en/accountability/overview-en.htm and disclosure policies located at http://www.icann.org/en/transparency/didp-en.htm.

  3. Sharing of Personal Information

    ICANN may share certain personal information with contractors and other agents for the purpose of processing this information on ICANN's behalf, and providing other services to ICANN or to the User on behalf of ICANN. ICANN requires that these parties agree to handle this information in compliance with appropriate confidentiality obligations and security measures.

    ICANN will provide personal information to third parties, government authorities and agencies as and when required to: (i) comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal process or enforceable governmental request; (ii) protect ICANN's or a third party's legal rights; (iii) receive contracted services or use of licensed products from third party providers; (iv) comply with any court order or legal proceeding; (v) comply with ICANN's accountability and transparency principles and disclosure policy; (vi) detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud or other criminal activity or errors, security or technical issues; or (vii) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of ICANN, our users or the public as required or permitted by law.

    ICANN will not sell or otherwise share any personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. ICANN will not provide any personal information to third parties for commercial services unless the User have given specific permission or direction.

  4. International Transfers

    By using our Site or giving ICANN personal information online, the User is directly transferring personal information and non-identifiable information to ICANN in the United States and may also be transferred and processed in other countries where our staff or service providers are located. The United States and such other countries may not have the same level of data protection as the User's jurisdiction.

    If the User lives outside the United States, and uses the Site or provides ICANN with personal information directly via the Site, such use and information will handled in accordance with this Privacy Statement. The User is solely responsible for compliance with any data protection or privacy obligations in the User's jurisdiction when using the Site or provide ICANN with personal information.

  5. Information Security and Integrity

    ICANN will use reasonable industry standard safeguards (which may include physical, procedural and technical measures) to protect against the unauthorized disclosure of personal information it collects and holds. ICANN will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information collected is complete and relevant to its intended use.

    ICANN's Site contains links to other third party websites which are subject to the respective privacy policies of those third parties. ICANN is not responsible for the privacy practices of such linked third party sites, and their owners and operators.

    Due to the open communication nature of the Internet, ICANN cannot represent, warrant or guarantee that communications stored on ICANN servers will be free from unauthorized access by third parties, loss, misuse or alterations. While ICANN will take reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of personal information received, ICANN DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE OR COMPROMISE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. USERS ARE ADVISED THAT THEY SUBMIT SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION AT THEIR OWN RISK.

  6. Accessing and Updating Personal Information

    Users may request access to their personal information held by ICANN (if any) to verify if it is complete and accurate. ICANN will endeavor to respond to genuine requests to access, correct or update personal information retained by ICANN, where appropriate. Requests may be sent by email to privacy@icann.org.

    ICANN will retain personal information stored on our servers in accordance with our general archival practices and as required or permitted by law.

  7. Minors

    ICANN does not knowingly collect or require personal information from children under the age of 13.

  8. Questions or Contacting ICANN

    If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, please feel free to contact ICANN at privacy@icann.org.

A note about our terms of service:

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Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."