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Registrar Across Field Address Validation

The WHOIS Accuracy Program Specification of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement requires registrars to validate and verify certain data fields, including phone number, email and postal address. Included in the requirements is the Across Field Address Validation (AFAV) requirement. AFAV requires registrars to validate the registrant’s postal address fields to confirm a practical relationship across fields, i.e. street exists in city, city exists in state/province, city matches postal code.

The 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement requires ICANN to review these requirements in consultation with the Registrar WHOIS Validation Working Group to identify a set of tools that will enable accredited registrars to complete these validation actions. These actions should contribute to increased accuracy rating of physical address information associated with the registered name holder. To implement this requirement successfully, the Registrar WHOIS Validation Working Group and ICANN must mutually agree upon a solution that is technically and commercially feasible. 

In 2017, ICANN identified, via a Request for Information (RFI), a set of commercial providers offering global address validation toolsets. The intent of the RFI was to gather information in order to determine whether commercial providers offered feasible solutions. After review of the potential solutions available, mutual agreement between ICANN org and the WHOIS Validation Working Group was not achieved. 

ICANN org will continue to look for technically and commercially feasible solutions that will enable mutual agreement, as defined by a minimum of two-thirds (2/3) vote by ICANN-accredited registrars in support of the defined solution(s).

At present, implementation activities surrounding the AFAV requirement are on hold, due to issues surrounding data protection, the Temporary Specification on Registration Data, and ongoing related work among ICANN and community members.