Who Is Responsible For Inaccurate WHOIS Data?
WHOIS is a collection of data about the registered domain name. Some of the information collected during domain registration include the domain Registrar, the creation date, the expiry date and the contact information of the domain owner among others. The information in a whois record is maintained by the domain’s Registrar. According to KeNIC’s Registry-Registrar agreement, it is the responsibility of the Registrar to maintain up-to-date contact information about the owner of the domain name. In the case of many domains registered, the whois information is not always correct. Who is responsible for the bad data?
Below are some of the scenarios where bad data comes about:
Unintentional/ accidental data entry
Sometimes when Registrants register the domain names, they accidentally input the wrong information for the domain registered. For example, a Registrant might mix up the digits on the phone numbers or missing some letters on the email addresses or both. Alternatively, a Registrant may change his phone numbers or email addresses and forget to update the domain details.
Resellers/ web developers intentionally putting the wrong data
Most of the time, owners of the domain name entrust resellers and web developers to input the required information on their behalf. It is common for these resellers to upload their own information instead of the registrants. Sometimes the registrant may instruct the reseller to put their own details so that the registrants are not contacted for matters regarding the domain. The challenge with allowing someone to put their own details instead of yours, in matters of disputes, the Registry will only consider the person who appears as the registrant in their database. It may be a challenge to prove the domain is yours.
Registrants intentionally putting the wrong data
There are Registrants who put the wrong data intentionally. This may be because the Registrant does not want to be contacted or the Registrant wants to use the domain for matters that might not be legal or morally accepted.
How can I have the correct data updated?
The information on whois record is maintained by the domain Registrar. It is the responsibility of the domain owner to contact the Registrar if the details on record is incorrect. The Registrar will be able to upload the correct details. If the Registrar is non-responsive, the domain owner can contact the KeNIC support team for assistance by sending an email to [email protected]. For clients who do not know if their details are correct and would like assistance, kindly visit www.kenic.or.ke and our chat agents will be able to assist you with the domain search.