ACSP Suggestion 2022.1: Change Nomenclature Regarding Points of Contact
Suggestion
Author: Anonymous
Submitted On: 05 January 2022
Description: Contact information objects (“POCs”) should not be referred to as “POCs” because that could also mean “person of color”, effectively perpetuating racism to Blacks. Please rename “POC” to something else.
Value to Community: Makes ARIN community more inclusive
Timeframe: Not specified
Status: Closed Updated: 19 January 2022
Tracking Information
ARIN Comment
19 January 2022
Thank you for your suggestion, numbered 2022.01 upon confirmed receipt, asking that ARIN consider renaming our contact information objects to something other than “POC” to be more inclusive in our language.
“POC” as an acronym for Point of Contact is a term that predates ARIN’s formation, and which can be found in https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1325. However, it is clear the term “POC” has a variety of alternative associations, and as such, could be confusing to individuals who are not familiar with our use of that term.
This is a timely point to raise because ARIN has been evaluating the impact of acronyms and jargon as a potential barrier to a common and consistent understanding of policies and procedures for our community. It is our goal to create an “easy to understand” and efficient customer experience, and this includes using clear and unambiguous language. Once we have developed guidelines for appropriate jargon usage in our communications (planned for later in 2022), we will provide them to the community for their review.
As it pertains to the use of the term “POC”, we will start the process of transitioning our documentation to reference Contact types, rather than “POC” in Q1 2022, and we will make the necessary changes to our ARIN Online application to update this terminology as the opportunity arises.
Because work can begin now to address this suggestion, it will be closed as “in progress”. Thank you for participating in the ARIN Consultation and Suggestion Process.
Regards,
American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)