[db-wg] [ncc-services-wg] Blocking Access to Personal Data Objects in the RIPE Database

Janos Zsako wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> In short, yes, I support the proposal.

Same here. I also, in principle, like the more general idea as outlined below.
Although I'd leave it to the NCC to think about and to apply DoS protection. :-)

Wilfried.

> My slightly modified suggestion is:
> 
> When a given IP address, due to the large number of personal data queries
> reaches the limit where the NCC would now deny access to any objects, I
> think
> it would make sense to fully limit the access to personal data (i.e deny
> access to it), however, limit the access to other data as if they had been
> using the --no-personal flag so far.
> 
> As long as there is no other kind of limitations than the one based on
> the number of personal data retrieved[*], this boils down to the
> suggestion below.
> If at some point other limitations are put in place, like number of queries
> within a time frame (to mitigate DoS attacks), then this would mean that
> they
> are still eligible for limitation if their query rate is too high (this
> time
> not due to the personal data involved).
> 
> Best regards,
> Janos
> 
> [*] See RIPE DB AUP
> (http://www.ripe.net/data-tools/support/documentation/aup).
> 
>> At RIPE 68, we again raised the issue of how the blocking mechanism
>> works in the RIPE Database. Currently it is all or nothing — if a user
>> queries for too much personal data, we block their access to everything.
>>
>> We often find that this causes issues for legitimate users of the
>> database. This is a recent example of the requests our Customer
>> Services department receives:
>>
>> "This is the outgoing NAT IP for a vast shared hosting cluster. We
>> can't control the type of queries our customers run, there are over
>> 250,000 websites, a tiny fraction might use RIPE but those customers
>> are using RIPE database for a good reason and need to be able to query
>> it. This is why I'm asking for a blanket allow.”
>>
>> Clearly we cannot whitelist any IP address for unlimited access to
>> personal data. However, the option to only block access to personal
>> data objects when the limit is reached would be a great help in these
>> situations.
>>
>> No decision has been made on this issue. We are hoping that it can be
>> further discussed by the community to see if a consensus can be reached.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Denis Walker
>> Business Analyst
>> RIPE NCC Database Team
>>
>>
>>
>