The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a non-profit corporation that handles .ca domain names, announced some big changes today. Before today, detailed -- and most would agree, preferably private -- information has been easily available via a WHOIS command. The acces to this information has now been greatly curtailed. 

Prior to this policy change, through a simple WHOIS command, anyone could get extensive details on the identity of any Canadian who personally registered a .ca website. For example, say you were a Canadian guy who had a great love for frying pans, and you registered the website www.fryinpans.ca. You'd be required to submit your personal information in order to register the site, and than anyone WHOIS'd www.fryinpans.ca would learn your home address, personal phone and fax number, full name, and personal email address. Needless to say, the easy access to this much personal information is open to abuse. Identity theft and spam come to mind.

Since today's changes, not even the name of the registrant is available through WHOIS. The only semi-personal information listed is which company the individual registered the domain name through. In the future, CIRA will be handling requests for contact with .CA domain name owners. So if you wanted send the www.fryinpans.ca guy some tips on teflon pans, or try to buy his website, CIRA can forward a contact request to the owner.

This new privacy option is optional -- so if you don't mind having your information out there, you still can -- but the default setting for all currents accounts, and future accounts, is to keep the registrant's information hidden.