TRUSTe Commends WebMD for Taking Steps to Protect Consumer Privacy

March 14, 2001 – TRUSTe today advises the Web community that it applauds WebMD's recent decision to discontinue providing aggregate customer data to Quintiles Transnational Corporation.

After an in-depth inquiry, TRUSTe has learned that an offline subsidiary of WebMD and Quintiles were involved in a business relationship which included the transfer of aggregate, non-personally identifiable customer data. Following the recent passage of a New Jersey state law surrounding health privacy, and the planned enactment of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, WebMD reportedly asked Quintiles to temporarily cease the relationship until all of the data could be cleansed and ensured that the practices are in compliance with the law. In response, Quintiles has taken legal action against WebMD.

As a participant in the TRUSTe Privacy Seal Program, WebMD has maintained close contact with TRUSTe to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly.

TRUSTe commends WebMD's principled stand to protect consumer privacy, even in the face of threatened legal action and business pressure. This dispute highlights a fundamental fact: In an increasingly connected society, there is no valid reason to differentiate between offline data privacy practices and online data privacy practices and that best practices forged by TRUSTe and pioneers in the online world should now transcend to all data.

TRUSTe will continue to closely monitor the dispute closely and keep the community apprised of any development.

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MAXAMINE