TRUSTe

Infobox_Company
company_name = TRUSTe
company_type = Private
company_slogan = "Make Privacy Your Choice"
foundation = 1997
location = San Francisco, California, USA
key_people = Fran Maier, Chief Executive Officer and President | industry = Internet Privacy
homepage = [http://www.truste.com]
footnotes =

TRUSTe is an independent, privately held [ [http://truste.org/about/press_release/07_15_08.php TRUSTe Press Release] ] organization best known for its Web Privacy Seal. TRUSTe runs the world’s largest privacy seal program, with more than 2,000 Web sites certified, [ [http://www.truste.org/about/member_list.php TRUSTe member list] ] including the major internet portals and leading brands such as IBM, Oracle Corporation, Intuit and eBay. TRUSTe states its purpose is to establish trusting relationships between individuals and online organizations based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world. TRUSTe is headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Washington D.C.Fact|date=May 2008

History

TRUSTe was founded as a non-profit organization in 1997 by Lori Fena who was executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Charles Jennings, a software entrepreneur, to foster online commerce by helping businesses and other online organizations self-regulate privacy concerns. [cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/Hundredth-Window-Protecting-Security-Internet/dp/068483944X|title=The Hundredth Window:Protecting Your Privacy and Security in the Age of the Internet|publisher=Simon and Schuster Free Press|accessdate=2008-08-19]

Fran Maier, chief executive officer and president of TRUSTe, joined the organization in 2001. [cite web|url=https://www.truste.org/about/management.php|title=TRUSTe Management|publisher=TRUSTe|accessdate=2008-06-30] Maier is one of the co-founders of Match.com.Fact|date=May 2008

In 2006, TRUSTe launched its Trusted Download Program, designed to separate “good” downloadable software from adware and spyware. [cite pressrelease|url=https://www.truste.org/about/press_release/11_03_06.php|title=TRUSTe Launches Trusted Download Beta Program to Certify That Consumer Software is not Spyware|date=November 3, 2006|publisher=TRUSTe|accessdate=2008-06-30]

Controversies

Some critics charge that TRUSTe does not go far enough to punish seal holders that break TRUSTe’s rules and that the organization is not quick enough in revoking the seal on companies that violate privacy standards. [cite web|url=http://www.benedelman.org/news/031808-1.html|title=Coupons.com and TRUSTe: Lots of Talk, Too Little Action|date=March 18, 2008|first=Benjamin|last=Edelman|accessdate=2008-07-03]

A survey conducted by Benjamin Edelman in January 2006 found that sites with TRUSTe certification were 50% more likely to violate privacy policies than uncertified sites. [cite web|url=http://www.benedelman.org/news/092506-1.html|title=Certifications and Site Trustworthiness|date=September 25, 2006|first=Benjamin|last=Edelman|accessdate=2008-07-03]

TRUSTe counters these charges with the argument that punishing “bad guys” and terminating rule breakers does not further TRUSTe’s mission of increasing trust between businesses and consumers. To accomplish that mission, TRUSTe works with companies to change business practices for the benefit of consumers.Fact|date=May 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.truste.org/ TRUSTe home page]