Nominet site data collection

DarkSky · Jun 27, 2013

I spot check my server logs for some of my domains, one of which I've noticed on a few occasions has been visited by an address owned by nominet, on closer inspection the user-agent is 'http://www.nominet.org.uk/privacypolicy'.

So I went to that page, to see what it's all about. I had no idea nominet were "analysing .uk domain usage", and I'm not sure I like it.

Nominet is running a short trial to collect data on whether .uk domain names resolve, where they are hosted, whether they are used for email and/or whether a web site is in place. As part of this, we will collect information about the landing page of your website so that we can categorise the website type (e.g. blog, parking page etc). We will not collect any more information than we would if we visited the landing page via a browser, and the data will be deleted at the end of the trial.

They claim it is innocent, and say "To keep bandwidth to a minimum, only the landing page of a web site is visited".

Well this isn't true. Their bot is also loading JavaScript files included in the page, which I find very odd indeed.

You might think that they are loading the JS files to render the page, but as they are not loading my images or stylesheets, I don't think this is the case at all.

It worries me that nominet are doing this, I'm not aware of any other registry that does this sort of thing.

GreyWing · Jun 27, 2013

Last time they did this type of thing they were seeing which domains had sites on them for the .uk launch.

Paullas · Jun 27, 2013

I have noticed this for a few weeks now, seems to happen more at weekends from what i can see from my logs.

websaway · Jun 27, 2013

GreyWing said:
Last time they did this type of thing they were seeing which domains had sites on them for the .uk launch.

I can't remember from the original forum discussions.
Is there any accurate figure as to how many co.uk names are held in portfolios of over 200 domains ?

anthony · Jun 27, 2013

DarkSky said:
I spot check my server logs for some of my domains, one of which I've noticed on a few occasions has been visited by an address owned by nominet, on closer inspection the user-agent is 'http://www.nominet.org.uk/privacypolicy'.

So I went to that page, to see what it's all about. I had no idea nominet were "analysing .uk domain usage", and I'm not sure I like it.

They claim it is innocent, and say "To keep bandwidth to a minimum, only the landing page of a web site is visited".

Well this isn't true. Their bot is also loading JavaScript files included in the page, which I find very odd indeed.

You might think that they are loading the JS files to render the page, but as they are not loading my images or stylesheets, I don't think this is the case at all.

It worries me that nominet are doing this, I'm not aware of any other registry that does this sort of thing.

The bit about '...used for email' is quite interesting, it hints (rightfully) that in addition to having an active web site, email usage could be recognised as a qualifying right for a .uk.

Jay Daley · Jun 27, 2013

DarkSky said:
... I'm not aware of any other registry that does this sort of thing.

We're about to in .nz. Here's a link to the page that sets out our purpose and practice around it. We consulted on this with the local technical community and received no feedback. We're just about to consult with registrars on it.

http://nzrs.net.nz/dns/zone-and-host-scanning

anthony · Jun 27, 2013

Sean said:
Jay, I applaud the transparency, it must pay dividends when it comes to trust.

Are you tired of NZ yet because there might be the perfect job going for you back in Blighty soon

After all the shit that has gone on over here since he left, it makes his alleged incident look positively tame!

RobM · Jun 27, 2013

Definitely looks like some kind of .uk release build up. Why else would they want this information now?

Paullas · Jun 28, 2013

I have blocked nominets IP from my parked domains. Is this a good idea or am i within my rights to do this.

murph · Jun 28, 2013

SecNam said:
I have blocked nominets IP from my parked domains. Is this a good idea or am i within my rights to do this.

Would have thought you can block any bot you like on your hosted domains?

Paullas · Jun 28, 2013

murph said:
Would have thought you can block any bot you like on your hosted domains?

Yeah but would it have an implications on this .uk crap going on.

DarkSky · Jun 28, 2013

SecNam said:
Yeah but would it have an implications on this .uk crap going on.

Well, depending on how you're blocking the IP it will have a minor effect on their statistics?

if you're 403'ing them they might class this as not in use, but working, if you time out the connection they might class this as not working correctly, if you 301 them it might count as a non-primary domain etc

Just speculating

Nominet site data collection

DarkSky

GreyWing

Paullas

websaway

anthony

Jay Daley

anthony

RobM

Paullas

murph

Paullas

DarkSky

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