Cloud Computing Explained in Cute Video
Add comment November 4th, 2009
New Facebook Privacy Policy
Last Thursday Facebook (a TRUSTe seal holder) unveiled its new privacy policy and submitted it for public comment (which will end 12:00 p.m. PST on Nov. 5). This announcement follows through on Facebook’s pledge to provide users with even greater transparency and choice when it comes to information collection and sharing on the website. TRUSTe commends Facebook for its continued innovation in the privacy field by allowing users to directly participate, permitting them to both comment and vote on policy changes at the company.
TRUSTe has worked with Facebook’s team in reviewing their new privacy policy and we’re giving it two thumbs up. Here at TRUSTe we value a diversity of privacy perspectives and we encourage you to contribute if you have opinions or ideas regarding these new changes at Facebook.
Add comment November 2nd, 2009
[VIDEO] Social Networking: The Challenges of Privacy and Openness
Check out video below from the event “Social Networking: The Challenges of Privacy and Openness”, which TRUSTe jointly hosted with the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) at Google’s Mountain View (CA) campus last month. Speakers include:
-Chris Conley, Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow, ACLU Northern California
-David Glazer, Engineering Director, Google, and Board member, OpenSocial Foundation
-Tim Sparapani, Director of Public Policy, Facebook.
You can find video of the event in its entirety at CDT’s YouTube homepage located here.
Add comment November 2nd, 2009
TRUSTe CEO to Speak at OTA Conference
On Thursday, October 29, I will be speaking at the Online Trust and Brand Protection Summit, a conference aimed at addressing how today’s leading online brands can augment consumer protection and brand reputation, and learn industry best practices for building and maintaining consumer trust. I look forward to joining other industry experts on a panel entitled, “Treating Consumers & Site Visitors as Family vs. Foes,” to discuss how online businesses can create policies and practices that encourage consumer confidence. The panel will review different methods and approaches to providing consumers notice of potential threats and creating policies that are transparent while building trust and confidence.
As e-commerce continues to expand and become increasingly competitive, brand reputation becomes even more vital to business success. Without consumer trust and confidence, a brand cannot survive in today’s cutthroat e-commerce environment. I encourage online businesses of all sizes to attend this Summit and be exposed to invaluable tools and advice on developing and maintaining a protected and trusted online business.
For more information about the Summit please visit the OTA website: https://www.otalliance.org/events/Phila09.html
- Fran Maier, CEO
Add comment October 26th, 2009
Venture Capitalist Superstar and TRUSTe Board Member!
Theresia Gouw Ranzetta of Accel Partners (and a TRUSTe Boardmember) was interviewed on CNBC as part of the channel’s week-long series on women and power.
Add comment October 23rd, 2009
Toward Privacy 2.0
“Forget privacy” because it is “just an illusion” urged Andrea DiMaio of Gartner Research in a recent blog post. Others claim our world of widespread information sharing (Facebook, Twitter, blogging etc.) is fundamentally at odds with privacy. Some even go so far as to claim that privacy is dead.
But privacy is not anonymity. Anonymity depends on how much or how little you share about yourself. Privacy, on the other hand, concerns your ability to share your personal information selectively. That people today willingly share copious amounts of personal information online does not automatically compromise their privacy. Rather, privacy is compromised when users’ information sharing preferences and expectations are not respected and upheld.
The act of sharing personal information is not, you see, a privacy problem. As Bob Blakely of the Burton Group smartly observes in his recent blog post on the topic, “privacy is the problem you have after you share personal information”. So let’s call it “privacy 2.0” and do away with this outdated understanding of privacy as “keeping information secret” or “not sharing any information at all”.
We live in an increasingly networked world and we have to share information to participate. Our job then is to ensure consumers have choices when it comes to information sharing and that those choices are respected. That’s privacy 2.0 and it’s already here: Facebook (a TRUSTe seal holder) provides its users with impressive options to selectively share information. If Facebook users chose not to use these management tools it’s a matter of personal preference, not a sign that privacy is dying. When we live in an age where there are even online privacy options for the deceased it pretty clear that privacy is not dead.
Add comment October 19th, 2009
No Question, Consumers Care about Tracking
Yesterday, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California Berkeley published the results from their survey measuring consumer attitudes toward behavioral advertising. TRUSTe agrees with the researchers that providing individuals with more transparency and control around the use of their information would engender greater trust online.
This most recent survey and TRUSTe’s March 2009 survey on consumer attitudes toward behavioral advertising show that consumers are concerned about privacy and are uncomfortable with online tracking. Six months ago TRUSTe found that 50.5% of people are uncomfortable with advertisers using their browsing history to serve relevant ads, even when that information cannot be tied to their names or any other personal information. This newest study reveals even greater discomfort levels, with 66% of respondents indicating that they do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests.
(The recent survey cites TRUSTe’s March 09 survey methodology and results. The two surveys do indeed differ – the TRUSTe/TNS survey uses an online sample – this survey uses a telephone sample of online users. Several questions are asked in different ways, for example, the TRUSTe/TNS survey uses the phrase “browsing history” and this survey uses the phrase “tailoring.” Many researchers in the privacy and security field agree that these concepts are difficult for consumers to fully grasp. Finally, in the last six months there’s been heightened press coverage on this issue that may very well have impacted consumer opinions.)
In addition, this new study shows that privacy practices remain opaque to consumers, as evidenced by the 62 percent of respondents who believe (incorrectly) that the presence of a privacy policy alone on a company’s website means information cannot be shared with another company without expressed consent. (TRUSTe’s requirements, however, mandate consent for sharing personal identifying information with third parties for marketing or promotional purposes).
TRUSTe is currently developing an advertising practices program for our seal holder publishers to improve disclosures and choices for consumers, in line with the FTC’s Self-Regulatory Principles For Online Behavioral Advertising:
- Deliver enhanced disclosure beyond the privacy statement
- Provide meaningful opt-out options from behavioral advertising
- Improve access to advertising information
- Improve privacy disclosures around targeting and data retention,
In addition, TRUSTe will extend its dispute resolution services to address consumer concerns in this area.
We expect that this new program, like the TRUSTe Web Privacy Seal, will go a long way to improve consumers’ trust online while maintaining the relatively free web content that consumers have clearly embraced.
Our task now is to address behavioral advertising in a way that both protects consumer privacy rights and allows business to thrive and innovate on the Internet. We think it can be done. We’re here to help.
Fran Maier
CEO
TRUSTe
Add comment October 1st, 2009
Most Trusted Online Companies Announced
When it comes to protecting your online privacy who do you trust? That’s the question the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe posed to more than 6,000 consumers in our annual joint survey on Most Trusted Companies for Privacy. Consumers rated more than 200 companies on their trustworthiness and we integrated the results with rankings generated from an expert panel review at the Ponemon Institute who rated the companies based on rigorous, objective criteria.
So who took home top honors in 2009? That would be eBay, followed by Verizon at the number two spot. We’re proud to say both companies are certified TRUSTe seal holders. In fact, of the top ten most trusted companies for consumer privacy in 2009, an impressive eight are TRUSTe seal holders (noted in bold below).
- eBay
- Verizon
- US Postal Service
- WebMD
- IBM
- Procter & Gamble
- Nationwide
- Intuit
- Yahoo!
Curious what companies rounded out the rankings? Tune in to our webinar next week to find out that and more about the 2009 Most Trusted Companies for Privacy survey. The webinar will take place on September 24, 2009 at 11 a.m. PST and Larry Ponemon and TRUSTe CEO Fran Maier will present. You can RSVP by emailing webinar@truste.com with the subject “Most Trusted Company for Privacy Award.” We hope you join us there!
Add comment September 16th, 2009
New Privacy Solutions for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses!
While there are real and significant risks for small business owners who create their own online privacy policies by copy-pasting from generic or established policies, TRUSTe understands that budgets are limited and companies can’t always afford an attorney to draft a privacy policy.
That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a new range of privacy services specifically tailored to the needs, financial and otherwise, of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). It’s a first-of-its-kind product set, offering professional privacy policy generation, site monitoring, and the opportunity to display a TRUSTe verified web privacy seal, a proven way to establish consumer trust and increase sales.
Depending on the package, SMBs will also have access to our esteemed privacy dispute resolution services and one-on-one support from our online privacy professionals. Thanks to TRUSTe, professional privacy policies and solutions for small and medium-sized business are no longer out of reach. Here’s what one customer had to say:
“Especially this year, the last thing I am thinking about is my web site’s privacy policy – but I know it’s critical and can cost me customers and potential sales if not managed correctly. I recently used the TRUSTe Privacy Services to create my own policy, which took 15 minutes.” - Sandra Whitehead, Sandysfancies.com
Enthusiastically,
-The TRUSTe Team
Add comment September 10th, 2009
Minors, Marketing & the Internet: On Maine’s divisive new law
As you may know, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires online businesses to secure “verifiable parental consent” before collecting personal information from a minor under the age of 13.
A new Maine law, set to go into effect September 12th, will extend this requirement to include all minors less than 18 years of age and further prohibit the use of their personal information for marketing purposes, regardless of parental consent. It goes without saying that this creates unrealistic compliance burdens for online companies who would need to individually identify and accommodate Maine minors who use their services.
For companies protesting the legislation it was a welcome relief this week when Maine’s Attorney General announced that she will not enforce the law, pending a legislative review. While a fortunate reprieve, companies that collect the personal information of minors, especially those between the ages of 13 and 18, should remain vigilant and recognize that there is a growing concern amongst parents nationwide for the safety and privacy of their children on the Internet. Growing levels of parental concern may well propel the introduction of similar legislation in other states in the near future. It should be further noted that although the Maine Attorney General has said she will not enforce the law, companies seeking to overturn* it worry that private parties could nonetheless sue since the law provides for a private right of action.
The Federal Trade Commission will host a COPPA review in 2010 and as the largest COPPA seal holder TRUSTe looks forward to participating in this process and welcomes your input on how to best achieve a balance between necessary information collection and the online protection of minors. Regardless of future regulatory changes, TRUSTe’s Children’s Privacy Seal will continue to signify a company’s genuine commitment to protecting children on the Internet and TRUSTe will be there to assist in compliance measures at every step of the way.
As a parent of teens (and on a more personal note), it is a challenge to monitor teens both online and off in the high school years and it’s not unreasonable to look for legislative solutions. But like most of these challenges, start with a conversation and invite them to friend you, you might be surprised.
– Fran Maier, CEO
*9/9/09 update: the plaintiffs have agreed to dismiss their case challenging the law.
Add comment September 3rd, 2009
