TrustArc (formerly TRUSTe) is a privacy compliance technology company based in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. The company provides software and services to help corporations update their privacy management processes so they comply with government laws and best practices.
Their
privacy seal A privacy seal is a type of trust seal or trustmark granted by third party providers for display on a company's website. Companies pay an annual fee (usually ranging from a few hundred to several thousand U.S. dollars) to have an image of the thir ...
or certification of compliance can be used as a marketing tool.
History
TrustArc, was founded as a non-profit industry association called TRUSTe in 1997 by
Lori Fena, then executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Charles Jennings, a software entrepreneur, with the mission of fostering online commerce by helping businesses and other online organizations self-regulate privacy concerns.
In 2000, TRUSTe became the first organization to join the Safe Harbor framework of the
U.S. Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth ...
and the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, and subsequently launched its EU Safe Harbor Seal Program.
[ ] The EU-US Safe Harbor was agreed upon by the Department of Commerce and the EU to provide a framework for American companies to comply with European data and privacy standards.
In 2001, TRUSTe became a
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at ().
The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. juri ...
Safe Harbor organization for the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
and thereafter launched its Children's Privacy Seal Program. That year, Fran Maier, who had helped build
Match.com
Match is an online dating service with web sites serving over 50 countries in twelve languages. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. The company has offices in Dallas, West Hollywood, San Francisco, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing. Match is ...
and had been running the company following the departure of its co-founder,
Gary Kremen
Gary Kremen (born 20 September 1963) is an American engineer, entrepreneur and politician who founded the personals site Match.com, was the first registrant of Sex.com and founder of Clean Power Finance, and is a board member of the Santa Clara Val ...
, joined the organization as executive director. One of her first efforts was to address consumer issues with
email spam
Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, is unsolicited messages sent in bulk by email (spamming).
The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoida ...
, which at the time was estimated to comprise 59 percent of all email traffic.
The same year, TRUSTe's founding executive director, Susan Yamada, who was formerly editor of
Upside Magazine, resigned, though later went on to serve as board chair.
In 2008, TRUSTe changed its structure from a non-profit industry association to a venture-backed for-profit company, raising its first round of capital from
Accel Partners
Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ...
. This raised the question of whether a for-profit company would be less stringent on the companies it certifies than a non-profit.
In November 2009, Chris Babel, former Senior Vice President of
VeriSign
Verisign Inc. is an American company based in Reston, Virginia, United States that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the , , and gener ...
's worldwide Authentication Services, joined TRUSTe as
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
. Maier remained active in the company until 2014, serving variously as president, CEO and board chair.
In 2013, TRUSTe was approved by th
European Interactive Digital Advertising Allianceas an official certification provider for the EU Self-Regulatory Programme for Online Behavioural Advertising. The same year, TRUSTe was named the first approved Accountability Agent for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's Cross Border Privacy Rules System.
In 2016, in an effort to help companies prepare for the European Union's
General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and of human rights law, in partic ...
, which extends the scope of the EU data protection law established in 1995 to all foreign companies processing data of EU residents, TRUSTe partnered with the
International Association of Privacy Professionals
The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) is a nonprofit, non-advocacy membership association founded in 2000. It provides a forum for privacy professionals to share best practices, track trends, advance privacy management is ...
to offer free compliance assessments of a company's privacy practices.
On June 6, 2017, the company changed its name from TRUSTe to TrustArc.
Services
TrustArc's certification subsidiary, TRUSTe, provides privacy dispute resolution services, designed to help oversee consumer requests and complaints regarding the privacy practices of those companies participating in TRUSTe's program.
Criticism and controversies
A ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' article in 2002 questioned whether TRUSTe certification could be trusted, noting that "TRUSTe officials often seemed to be covering for their clients" rather than revoking privacy seals for violations.
In January 2006,
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
economics researcher Benjamin Edelman published a study showing that sites with TRUSTe certification were 50 percent more likely to violate privacy policies than uncertified sites. Edelman also reported that TRUSTe did not go far enough to punish seal holders that break their rules and was not prompt enough in revoking the seal on companies that violate privacy standards.
Federal Trade Commission settlement
On November 17, 2014, the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
announced that TRUSTe had agreed to settle a complaint that it misrepresented to consumers its recertification program, and its status as a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
entity, against a $200,000 penalty. The FTC complaint alleged that from 2006 to 2013, TRUSTe failed, in over 1000 instances, to conduct annual privacy checks on the companies it certified. Consumer organizations, including Center for Digital Democracy and the
Consumer Federation of America
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.
According to CFA's website, its members are nearly 300 consumer-oriented non-profits, w ...
, argued for higher penalties and more FTC oversight, but the FTC declined to increase the penalties.
FTC Commissioner
Maureen Ohlhausen issued a partial dissent to the FTC ruling, "because TRUSTe never misrepresented its corporate status," and had informed clients of its for-profit status.
See also
*
General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and of human rights law, in partic ...
*
EU-US Privacy Shield
*
California Privacy Rights Act
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:TrustArc
Internet privacy organizations
Politics and technology
Self-regulatory organizations in the United States
Companies established in 1997
Data protection authorities