'Secure Assure' Looks to Challenge
TRUSTe as Leading Privacy Seal

Watch out TRUSTe! "Secure Assure" is on your tail.

The start-up seal program, launched last month, hopes to emerge as the true Web privacy seal by putting consumers' interests ahead of corporate prerogatives. To get the seal, a company must agree not to divulge customer data to outsiders, and to use secure servers.

"We aren't here to help prevent government regulation. We aren't here to help large corporations. We're here to help consumers by identifying legitimate, reputable online businesses. You won't find those statements in any TRUSTe press release," said Doug Devine, Secure Assure's Chief Operating Officer.

In fact, Secure Assure goes beyond privacy. Companies must attest that they are "reputable" and "reliable;" they must be easy for the customer to contact; they must "handle each customer concern quickly, accurately and fairly;" and they must "work with Secure Assure to settle any customer disputes."

Secure Assure's launch coincides with growing concern about TRUSTe's effectiveness. TRUSTe recently admitted that it was powerless to do anything about the Real Networks privacy debacle because the data was transferred via software, instead of through the Real Networks Web site, which is covered by the TRUSTe seal. This was the same "jurisdictional" problem that TRUSTe professed after Microsoft was caught transferring data on software customers against their wishes. At the Nov. 8 FTC workshop on online profiling, TRUSTe announced that it would expand its program to cover software. But advocates criticized TRUSTe's approach as inadequate, and particularly criticized its refusal to reveal the "third party" that audited Microsoft's "Hotmail," and then gave Hotmail a "clean bill of health."

The Industry Standard, a leading trade publication, cited TRUSTe's shortcomings as evidence that self-regulation wasn't working. "Net companies that promise to abide by baselineprivacy standards and pay up to $5,000 win the right to display the TRUSTe seal, proving their trustworthiness to visitors. If the nonprofit TRUSTe were truly to excommunicate its more generous members – like RealNetworks and Microsoft – it couldn't survive. It's an inherent conflict of interest." The magazine said it was time "to put away the carrot and take out the stick."

"TRUSTe is run by large corporations, for large corporations," said Devine of Secure Assure. "I'm not sure what they really stand for. They've investigated hundreds of consumer-reported complaints privacy violations by members, but have never revoked a license. Within the past two weeks we've received 45 applications and only approved six of them. We want to license as many merchants as possible, but not at the cost of our reputation."

Secure Assure's annual license fees range from $199 to $2,330, depending on revenue. It's waiving the first year's fee for all merchants who apply by Dec.31. (www.secureassure.org)