Public Safety Working Group

The GAC Public Safety Working Group (PSWG) is an internal working group of ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). It was formed on February 12, 2015 at ICANN52 in Singapore and its Terms of Reference were adopted in June 2015 at ICANN53 in Buenos Aires. It is still active. The PSWG focuses on aspects of ICANN’s policies and procedures that implicate the safety of the public. Currently, the co-chairs are Cathrin Bauer-Bulst, European Commission and Laureen Kapin, United States Federal Trade Commission.

Terms of Reference[edit | edit source]

The terms of reference, according to ICANN's official website, states:

The GAC’s PSWG objectives include, but are not limited to, the following:

Assessing whether and seeking to ensure that the Domain Name System (DNS) and domain name registrations are not used to propagate, enhance, or further, unlawful activity, abuse, consumer fraud, deception, or malfeasance, and/or violations of law;
Supporting the ability of public safety organizations to investigate, prevent, attribute, and disrupt unlawful activity, abuse, consumer fraud, deception or malfeasance, and/or violations of national law that involve the DNS and domain name registrations;
Cooperating with ICANN’s advisory committees (including the RSSAC, SSAC), supporting organizations (including the GNSO, ASO, ccNSO), and community, to ensure multi-stakeholder support and cooperation, in advancing public safety policies, recommendations, and advice;
Participating in applicable ICANN working/study groups to promote a shared understanding of the potential effects such groups’ work and recommendations will have on public safety;
Continuously assessing whether ICANN has responsive and timely mechanisms to develop and enforce ICANN contractual obligations with gTLD registries and registrars, ( i.e., Registrar Accreditation Agreement, Registry Agreement); and
Addressing work streams, policies, and studies that are brought forth at ICANN that affect public safety.

Working Group Members

The GAC’s PSWG Co-Chairs will be Ms Alice Munyua, African Union Commission and Mr Wanawit Ahkaputra, Thailand.

All GAC representatives and observers are welcome to join the PSWG. The primary members of the PSWG, however, are expected to be representatives from national and/or provincial/state government consumer protection, civil and criminal law enforcement, and other agencies responsible for the welfare and protection of its citizens who:

Demonstrate knowledge or expertise about Internet governance, the DNS and the Internet; and
Commit to participate in the activities of the working group on a consistent basis, either in-person or remotely by teleconference, email, etc.

GAC members are therefore asked to identify and nominate such representatives to participate actively in the work of the PSWG.

This is permissible under GAC Operating Principle 27, which states: "The Chair may call for the creation of Committees and Working Groups to address matters that relate to concerns of governments and where they may affect public policy issues. Accredited representatives may designate advisers to serve on such committees."

All participants will be listed in the working group’s online workspace, within the members-only section of the GAC website.

The working group will be assisted and supported by the ACIG GAC Secretariat and the ICANN GAC Support team.

Deliverables and Timeframes

The PSWG will hold its first official meeting at the next ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires in June 2015. In addition, the PSWG will:

introduce the PSWG and its mission to all relevant ICANN groups and constituencies;
research, draft, and submit to the GAC, advice on subjects that may affect public safety;
consult with operational security experts from industry and other sources on cyber-security issues relating to the DNS; and
develop a range of best practices, support, advice, and assistance consistent with the working group’s objectives.

Areas of interest, as of May 2015, for the PSWG (which may evolve/change) include:

WHOIS: ICANN currently has approximately 15 separate tracks concerning WHOIS, (i.e., accuracy project, privacy and proxy services accreditation, Expert Working Group report, etc.;
Specification 11 of gTLD Registry Agreement
New Public Interest Commitment on Security Threats
Contractual Compliance;
Implementation of new gTLDs;
Internationalized Domain Names.

The PSWG will support the GAC on public safety developments, opportunities and challenges Accordingly, the PSWG Chair will update the GAC about the PSWG’s activities at each face-to-face GAC meeting. Members of the PSWG will be responsible for maintaining and coordinating with the Chair on PSWG initiatives, studies and publications. An email list will be established to aid the work of the group. Details of how to subscribe to the email list will be published on the web page of the working group. Working methods

The working group will aim to act by consensus. If members of the PSWG cannot reach full consensus, the WG Chair will convey the full range of views of the members.

The PSWG may, at its discretion, publish an interim review and analysis of the topics it considers relevant to its work, in the form of Position Paper or a Statement based on the consensus view of the members of the working group.

The draft text will be submitted to the GAC plenary for comment, and may also be published with a view to seeking comments or input from the wider ICANN community and/or relevant stakeholders outside the community.

Any such draft Position Paper or Statement must clearly state that it is produced by an internal GAC Working Group and does not represent a consensus GAC view.

After reviewing the responses to the draft Position Paper or Statement, the working group may seek formal GAC endorsement or support for the document. In the event that the GAC does not support or endorse a Position Paper or Statement, the working group may, at its discretion, reconsider and/or revise the Position.

2018-2019[edit | edit source]

On February 17, 2018, the final draft for the Work Plan for 2018-2019 was delivered. The main objetives were:

Develop capabilities of the ICANN and Law Enforcement communities to prevent and mitigate abuse involving the DNS as a key resource
Ensure continued accessibility and improved accuracy of domain registration information that is consistent with applicable privacy regulatory frameworks
Build effective and resilient PSWG operations
Develop participation in PSWG work and ensure stakeholder imput.

Topic Leads[edit | edit source]

Iranga Kahangama, US FBI
Cathrin Bauer-Bulst, European Commission
Laureen Kapin, United States Federal Trade Commission
Gregory Mounier, Europol
Thomas Walden, US DEA
Sara Marcolla, Europol

2020-2021[edit | edit source]

Endorsed by the GAC on 16 March 2020, the Work Plan for 2020-2021 maintened the main objetive, developing DNS abuse and cybercrime mitigation capabilities of ICANN and Law Enforcement communities. Besides, we have as follows:

Ensure continued accessibility and improved accuracy of domain registration information that is consistent with applicable privacy regulatory frameworks
Ensure PSWG operations remain effective and consistent in meeting the needs of the GAC and public safety agencies.

Topic Leads[edit | edit source]

Laureen Kapin, United States Federal Trade Commission
Gabriel Andrews, US FBI
Tjabbe Bos, European Commission
Katie Noyes, US FBI
Janos Drienyovszki, European Commission
Chris Lewis-Evans, UK NCA
Fabien Betremieux, GAC Support Team
Cathrin Bauer-Bulst, European Commission

2023-2024[edit | edit source]

The current strategic objectives of the PSWG, as detailed in its 2023-2024 Work Plan and endorsed by the GAC on 20 March 2023 are as follows:

Develop and Support DNS Abuse and DNS related unlawful activity mitigation methods and capabilities
Promote lawful access to and accuracy of domain name registration data
Effective PSWG operations and stakeholder relations.