The Internet industry’s privacy seal program

Silicon Valley Web Guild

The Internet industry’s privacy seal program

Dave Steer,

Director of Communications

Overview

• The Perfect Privacy Storm• The TRUSTe Privacy Seal Program• Methods of Addressing Privacy Issue• Q & A

The Perfect Privacy Storm

• Confusing and conflicting state, national, and international laws– Current law: COPPA, FTC Act, EU Data

Directive

– Congress looking to pass new law next session

• The Election Season– Privacy is political

– Presidential candidate calls for Opt-In

– State attorneys general involved in issue

The Perfect Privacy Storm

• Current economic environment– Bankruptcies are causing inconsistencies with

current law

– Toysmart

• Media– Privacy advocates scouring Web for Data Valdez

– Daily stories of corporate privacy violation

The Perfect Privacy Storm

• TRUSTe launched to raise trust and confidence in the Web– The promise of eCommerce threatened by

lack of trust in new medium.– Privacy was number one fear impacting trust

• The Birth of Self Governance Framework– Coalition of enlightened companies, social

advocates, government and consumers.– Created a “seal” as a guidepost to trusted

sites that agree with our privacy principles

TRUSTe Privacy Seal Program

The Role of a Seal Program

• Ensure use of fair information practices • Monitor site for program compliance• Provide consumer recourse mechanism• Boost consumer confidence and trust• Educate consumers and businesses

“To engage Web site and Web surferin a conversation about privacy”

TRUSTe Seal Program• Based on core tenets of Fair Information

Practices– Notice: Disclosure of information practices– Choice: Opt-in or Opt-out of information

practices– Access: Reasonable access to profile

information– Security: Reasonable security for data

collected

TRUSTe Seal Program

• Monitoring for Program Compliance– Ongoing review of Web site practices– Seeding process to ensure compliance

• TRUSTe Watchdog– An easy-to-use alternative dispute resolution

mechanism– Objective: to resolve complaints between Web sites

and Web users– Toysmart.com action is a result of TRUSTe vigilance

and working Watchdog process

The TRUSTe seal links from your home page to a privacy statement.

The privacy statement discloses how your site will collect and use consumer information.

This site is a licensee of the TRUSTe program. As such, we have agreed to have our privacy practices monitored and reviewed by TRUSTe.

Privacy Statement

Your customers also have choices about who your site gives information to.

Users can report privacy violations through TRUSTe’sWatchdog page.

TRUSTe Program Growth

0 42146

450650

1300

1832

Jun-97 Jan-98 Jun-98 Jan-99 Jun-99 Jan-00 Jun-00

Num

ber

of L

icen

sees

Source: TRUSTe internal figures

TRUSTe Program Status

• Depth and breadth of licensee base– 1/2 of top 100; 15 of top 20– 90% of U.S. Internet traffic on TRUSTe

approved sites per month– 23 countries represented– Nearly every vertical industry segment

TRUSTe Program Status

• TRUSTe seal rated most prominent symbol on the Internet (Nielson//NetRatings)

– More than 4.7 billion impressions served in June 2000

• TRUSTe seal ranked most trustworthy symbol online (Cheskin Research)

– 69 percent recognize the TRUSTe seal

– 55 percent indicate that the presence of TRUSTe seal increased trust in a site

Trust: Looking Ahead

• Consumer Education– Privacy Partnership 1998, 2000, and beyond– Parents and Teachers Guide to Online Privacy

• Internationalization of Privacy Oversight– A global medium requires a global privacy

solution– European safe harbor opens door to swift

internationalization

Trust: Looking Ahead

• Software Privacy Seal Program– The blurring of online and offline requires a

more expanded solution– Expansion of the TRUSTe coalition

• A Broader Trust Solution– More integrated solution to address all

elements of trust online

Addressing Privacy Problems

Trust and Privacy Tips• Make fair information practices a central

principle of your operation– Create and communicate privacy policies– Hire a Chief Privacy Officer to ensure entire

company is in lock-step– Make sure all employees know the policy– Join a third party oversight program– Make privacy a check-point in your product

releases

Trust and Privacy Tips

• Architecture is policy– How you build your system will dictate user privacy– Bring in advisory counsel

• Communicate your privacy commitment– Use responsible privacy practice as a competitive

advantage– Integrate privacy into your marketing efforts– Accept and admit responsibility for mistakes and

solve them quickly

Conclusion

• Privacy concerns have brewed a Perfect Storm for Internet businesses

• Seal programs can help a Web site earn the trust of its users, and are effective at remaining ahead of curve.

• Smart companies are embracing integrated methods of addressing privacy and building trust online.

The Internet industry’s privacy seal program

Silicon Valley Web Guild