Seattle WA – May 20, 2009 – Today the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) released its 2009 draft Online Trust Principles for public comment. The Principles are a major step toward establishing business practices that afford greater consumer online protection and the long term vitality of online commence and interactive marketing.
After a 30-day comment period and subsequent ratification, OTA will work with business and regulatory agencies to drive adoption – focusing on leading ecommerce and banking sites that are stewards of significant amounts of consumer data and, therefore, at risk as frequent targets of online exploits. Those brands which show the highest level of support will be recognized and be eligible for OTA’s annual online safety awards.
“Implementation of these Principles is not only achievable but required to ensure consumers’ peace of mind and protect the online economy from abuse,” said OTA Founder and Chairman Craig Spiezle. “We look forward to our continuing work with the world’s leading brands and organizations to help them realize a new level of trust with their customers.“
The Online Trust Principles are broken down into three categories:
1) Infrastructure, protection of servers, web sites, desktops and mobile devices
2) Data, that includes both sensitive and Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
3) User Control, Choice and Privacy
Taken together, these Principles will help prevent, detect and disable threats and business practices that can compromise consumers’ online trust and confidence, including their identity and privacy.
Copies of the draft Principles may be found at https://www.otalliance.org/resources/principles.html.
Comments should be sent on letterhead to staff@otalliance.org.
