ICANN is piloting a system that allows international authorities to request non-public WHOIS data during emergencies—situations involving imminent threats to life, risk of serious bodily injury, or critical infrastructure damage. The WHOIS database contains domain holder information, but privacy services and data protection laws often hide these details, making it difficult to identify those responsible for domains hosting malware or other malicious content.
The FBI and Interpol are already participating in the tests. When an authority submits a request, the domain registrar has 24 hours to review it—or up to 72 hours for complex cases—and can deny it if the urgency criteria aren't met. This balance between rapid response and proper oversight aims to help law enforcement track down bad actors while protecting legitimate privacy.