New terms of use for .be domain names

All registrants (i.e. the owners) of a .be domain name will soon receive an e-mail from registry operator DNS Belgium announcing changes to the terms of use for .be domain names. What does this change mean and what should you do?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take effect on 28 May 2018. This EU regulation will protect the privacy of European citizens by, inter alia, strictly regulating the way databases containing personal data are created. Further details are provided in our article “GDPR: what you should know as a Combell customer”.

All companies maintaining databases containing personal data must take measures to comply with this regulation.

DNS Belgium changes its terms of use

DNS Belgium vzw/asbl, which manages the .be domain extension, also maintains a database containing personal information about the owners of .be domains. And, as part of the GDPR, the registry operator is going to change its terms of use, which will include, among other things, further details about the type of data that can be collected and processed. Further information will also be provided on the rights of the domain owners.

The new terms of use will take effect on 28 May 2018. To ensure that all owners of .be domains are informed correctly, DNS Belgium will inform them all directly. Every owner of a .be domain will therefore soon receive an e-mail providing information about these new conditions.

What does this mean in concrete terms?

Who sends the e-mail?

The owners of .be domains will receive the e-mail directly from DNS Belgium. Combell will not be mentioned in this e-mail.

Who receives the e-mail?

Every owner of a .be domain, based on the information available in the database maintained by DNS Belgium. If the owner purchased the domain via a reseller, the reseller will not be notified; only the actual domain owner will receive the e-mail.

What should you do if you receive the e-mail?

In principle, when you (the owner) receive the e-mail sent by DNS Belgium, you do not need to do anything, because the changes to the terms of use bring nothing but improvements that will help better protect your privacy. However, if for some reason you do not wish to accept the changes to the terms of use, you are free to cancel the registration of your domain name. If you purchased your domain name from Combell, you can do this here.

What do resellers need to do?

Absolutely nothing. DNS Belgium will send the e-mail directly to the owners of .be domains. This means our name will not appear anywhere in this message. Obviously, you are free to let your customers know that this e-mail will soon be delivered in their mailbox.

If you have any questions about the new terms of use, please contact DNS Belgium vzw/asbl via support@dnsbelgium.be.