New legal requirements will apply in Germany presumably in 2026 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
- the registration data made publicly available via the whois lookup (Domain Query) tool
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 will be made to the data output of the DENIC domain query (whois)?
Users will be able to access certain information about registered .de domains directly on the DENIC website via the domain query (whois). However, there will be a number of changes in this area.
More registration data will become publicly accessible, namely the registration data of legal entities – i.e. companies, organisations, etc. – will be displayed in full via the domain query (whois). This includes the name and address of the domain holder as well as their email address and telephone number. The date of registration will also be displayed, as well as the name and contact details of the DENIC member who administers the domain (registrar).
If the domain holder is a natural person and their data is therefore personal data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), holder data will continue to be withheld from the domain query (whois). In such cases, only the date of the domain registration and the name and contact details of the DENIC member who administers the domain (registrar) will be displayed.
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. A time-limited access link will then be sent to the email address on file.
How can access be gained to the holder data of domains registered by private individuals?
The data protection provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) remain unchanged. This means that no personal data on domain owners is accessible via the domain query (whois) on DENIC's website.
Under certain conditions, DENIC will disclose domain holder data to holders of name and trademark rights, insolvency administrators and claimants in possession of an enforceable title. This is done on a case-by-case basis upon proof of a legitimate interest. DENIC continues to provide specialised forms for these groups of enquirers to request owner information, meaning that still no holder data classified as personal data will be made publicly available via the Domain Query (whois) 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 provides specialized forms facilitating requests for the disclosure of dedicated holder information.
The changes explained here are due to the upcoming transposition of the EU's NIS2 Directive into German law.
