'Net Features : truste

Privacy Concerns Not Going Away

Amberly Dressler — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:15:00 GMT

Today’s online consumers are on to us. They are more privy to behavioral targeting and tracking and have higher privacy expectations because of it. Don’t panic; companies who are transparent with their audience stand to build more trust, higher engagement and more sales.

In fact, TRUSTe’s 2013 U.S. Consumer Confidence Index found that 89 percent of U.S. adults will avoid companies that do not protect their privacy, up from 88 percent in 2012.

Companies can take decisive action to increase consumer confidence online.

“At a high level, if website owners thought privacy concerns were going to go away, they should know they’re not going to,” said Dave Deasy, VP of Marketing at TRUSTe. “They should take an inventory of how they collect data and how they use the data.

“At a lower level, most websites are moving mobile, either with a mobile version of their site or apps, and we have pretty specific data that indicates if you are going to move mobile, this is the perfect opportunity to put in good privacy practices.”

The report’s data specifies 72 percent of smartphone users are more concerned about their privacy on smartphones than they were one year ago.

“This is a bit alarming, particularly because we work with a lot of companies taking proactive steps to address mobile privacy,” said Deasy. “When we see the percentage of people being concerned, this is a strong indicator to us that people are becoming more and more aware of the tracking being used by companies, and there is still work to be done.”

Additionally, the roles of the people doing this privacy work are changing.

“One of the big shifts that we are seeing is that privacy was once something that only the lawyers would handle,” said Deasy. “That is still important, but website operators are also understanding that putting good privacy practices in play are good for their businesses. Consumers who trust websites are more likely to share information, which will drive purchases and more clicks, so more and more marketers inside businesses are worrying about privacy, [not just the lawyers].”

Is Behavioral Advertising No Longer Cool?

Michael Garrity — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:30:00 GMT

It looks like one of the big issues on the Web over the next few years will be user privacy; specifically, how much personal data websites and marketers are allowed to collect, and how much users are allowed to keep to themselves.

Most likely a result of numerous (and serious) complaints about Facebook’s many privacy issues in the past, more and more ‘Net users are paying closer attention to what data websites are using to track them, and taking more of an initiative to keep as much of their personal data to themselves as possible.

Online privacy services provider TRUSTe recently looked further into this topic and today released a report showing that an increasing number of consumers are taking action to protect their online privacy.

When the company studied this last year, it found that 27 percent of US adults (18 and over) would opt-out of online behavioral advertising due to privacy concerns. This year, that number has almost doubled, with 50 percent of adults choosing to opt-out.

In addition, 76 percent of respondents said they don’t let companies share their personal information with a third party, 90 percent will use browser controls (including deleting cookies) to protect their privacy, and 58 percent said they generally don’t like behavioral advertising. All of these numbers were an increase from last year’s report.

For now, this issue isn’t in the general public consciousness just yet, but as the numbers indicate, it’s getting there very quickly. Fortunately for marketers, this provides some time to try to come up with incentives for users to want to opt-in, or at least ways to provide a comparable experience to those consumers who don’t want to share their private information.

LiveRail Integrates TRUSTe for OBA Compliance

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:30:00 GMT

The mere presence of behavioral advertising continues to rile privacy advocates, but some interesting solutions are emerging which aim to help companies at least more effectively communicate their privacy practices to consumers.

Online video advertising platform LiveRail for example just announced a partnership with privacy solutions provider TRUSTe to help its advertisers achieve compliance with the DAA’s (Digital Advertising Alliance) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising.

Advertisers using LiveRail’s platform can now choose to use the compliance service of TRUSTe’s TRUSTed Ads platform, the self-regulatory platform for behavioral advertising privacy online which features the Advertising Option Icon on in-ad placements. Advertising agencies that work with both LiveRail and TRUSTe are essentially now able to implement the DAA compliance tools into their video ads via one user interface.

“Brands need to be transparent with consumers, but it’s still difficult to navigate the growing video space,” said Mark Trefgarne, LiveRail CEO. “TRUSTe’s expertise and experience in online privacy immediately ensures our advertisers they are meeting OBA regulatory requirements and serving our customer base by adhering to the highest privacy standards in the industry.”

Lyris Takes Lead on Privacy among ESP’s

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:00:00 GMT

With the recent rash of high-profile security breaches, privacy and security are top of mind with big brands and their consumers. Taking steps to ensure that users’ information is secure and remains private matters to the bottom line.

Online marketing service provider Lyris, best known for its Lyris HQ and ListManager platforms, announced that TRUSTe certified its website to display its Web Privacy Seal. With 71% of users looking for trust marks before purchasing or doing business online, showing support matters immensely.

The TRUSTe Web Privacy Seal ensures users that Lyris’ online privacy policy has been reviewed and approved by a third party and includes information practices consistent with the Federal Trade Commission’s Fair Information Practice Principles. TRUSTe also provides its clients and their customers with a process to resolve privacy disputes through its online Watchdog Dispute Resolution service – resolving more than 9,000 complaints each year.

“TRUSTe certification is an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to building customer trust and demonstrating that we take data privacy very seriously,” said Tina Stewart, senior vice president, marketing for Lyris. “With this certification, we are not only following industry best privacy practices, but also leading the way in responding to our customer’s demands for transparency and accountability when it comes to their privacy online.”

Google Brings TRUSTe Into Apps Marketplace

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 18 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Google announced a new feature for its app marketplace today - a TRUSTe administered data privacy certification program.

TRUSTe created the certification program for installable Marketplace apps to verify that app publishers/developers are clearly communicating their data handling and privacy practices to app users (consumers). Participants in the program will see displayed a green TRUSTe logo on an app’s Marketplace listing page when certified as well as search results pages. The logo links then to a certification summary with more specific information about the app. The program is optional for vendors.

Buyers of apps with the TRUSTe certification will know that the vendor has been contacted and certified by TRUSTe personnel, the purpose for data collection and sharing, the security used for sharing (https), and the privacy policy.

Google did make it known that since certification is optional, the absence of a TRUSTe seal should not imply the app has unacceptable or difficult-to-understand practices for data handling and privacy.

Google, Yahoo Jump on the Do-Not-Track Bandwagon

Mike Phillips — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:30:00 GMT

As the debate over do-not-track legislation rages on, Google and Yahoo continue to take steps hoping to appease those in favor of blocking all trackable user data. Google announced on their AdWords blog that they will adopt the familiar blue-triangle icon that users can use to opt-out of targeted advertising.

"We'll soon start to change our in-ads notice icon to a new icon that expands to an 'AdChoices' label," said Google's Lisa Shieh on the AdWords blog. "With the change from our 'i' icon and 'Ads by Google' label to these new notifications, we hope to show our support for this cross-industry initiative, and to increase our users' understanding about ad choices through adoption of an icon they'll see on ads across the web."

When clicked, the icon expands to allow users to alter categories of interest that are then associated with relevant ads, and to opt out of targeted ads altogether. Google's options disable cookie-related data and demographic information, while Yahoo's options also disable data collected from its partner sites. TRUSTe also features the icon for ads from its clients.

It's important to note that some of the opt-outs do not completely disable data-tracking – a point of contention with those opposed to self-regulatory initiatives and supporting full do-not-track legislation.

See Website Magazine's May 2011 edition, where we take a very close look at the current state of do-not-track legislation.

Can You Trust Your Software?

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Incredimail announced that its email client and flagship product IncrediMail Xe passed the certification process for TRUSTe’s Trusted Download Program (TDP).

Companies with TDP certification, such as IncrediMail, are published on an industry-recognized safe-software publication, referred to as a whitelist. Content and search providers, anti-spyware vendors and online advertisers, can use this TRUSTe TDP whitelist as a tool to help make business decisions related to advertising, partnering and distributing software products. In addition, a TRUSTe seal is visible at the point of each download, which reassures consumer toolbar subscribers.

"At IncrediMail, we offer our users a way to communicate through email that is fun, rich with features and graphically appealing, but most importantly, safe and secure," said Ofer Adler, CEO of IncrediMail. "Receiving TRUSTe's Trusted Download certification is further validation that the processes employed by IncrediMail, to protect our customers' personal information, adhere to and often exceed the highest industry standards. We are excited and proud to add the TRUSTe certification to our existing recognition from McAfee Secure and The Better Business Bureau," added Mr. Adler.

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Another TRUSTe & BuySafe Program For Merchants

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:34:00 GMT

Consumer privacy organization TRUSTe and buySAFE today announced a joint program to boost consumer confidence and increase conversion rates for Internet retailers. Back in June of 2007, buySAFE and TRUSTe released a eerily similar program dubbed "TRUSTe for Small Business".

Today's program announcement, the TRUSTe Plus Privacy program (powered by buySAFE) is a solution that allows merchants to assure consumers that they can trust program-certified e-retailers with personal information. With a price tag of $29.95 per month, the program is focused on serving small and medium sized businesses and retailers new to the online space that have a demand for secure and private shopping. The Plus Privacy program depends on buySAFE for merchant inspection and monitoring, a privacy policy wizard and privacy seal management.

Website Magazine has discussed BuySafe in previous posts:

Calming Consumer Fears with buySAFE
BuySafe Opens API
BuySafe Launches Ecommerce Widget