Trustmark (commerce)

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A trustmark is an image, logo, or badge that is typically displayed on an E-commerce website, indicating that the site has passed certain digital security tests or is operated by a member of a professional organization. The trustmark is intended to show approval of the brand by a recognizable third party. Customers gain confidence and may be more inclined to transact business with a brand bearing a trustmark. [1] [2]

One of the oldest familiar trustmarks, the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, was established in 1909 as a way for the magazine's Research Institute to endorse specific products backed by a two-year warranty. [3] In the modern era, digital trustmarks can be a machine-readable authentication feature within an identity trust framework. [4]

In the United Kingdom since 2006, there is a non-profit entity called TrustMark that under a master agreement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [5] licenses and audits businesses that register to carry out work inside and near residential homes. In Canada, there has been a trustmark issued by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada) to identify charities that meet standards of ethics and accountability. [6] In 2018, Mozilla and a consortium including the New York University School of Law backed a product packaging trustmark called Trustable Technology. [7] TRUSTe (now TrustArc) is another specialist in trustmark review services. [8]

See also

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<i>Good Housekeeping</i> American womens magazine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trusted Shops</span>

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Trust signals are evidence points that appear online to help customers feel more secure in their decision to purchase from a business or buy a product or service.

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 to have an image of the third party provider's seal pasted onto their homepage or privacy policy page. Users can oftentimes click on the seal and be redirected to the web assurance seal service's website which verifies the validity of the privacy seal. They are meant to act as a visual assurance for consumers that the website in question meets a certain standard of privacy. The idea of a privacy seal originates with its physical manifestation – companies have long sought seals of approval like Good Housekeeping to be placed on their tangible products in order to draw in customers who value "quality". While all web assurance seal services follow the guidelines set by the Federal Trade Commission, some providers may have additional requirements. Checks are then conducted on a regular or random basis to ensure compliance. Privacy seals can be applied to various types of e-commerce websites. Some seal providers even create a special privacy seal that is geared toward a certain product like mobile apps or accounting. There are many privacy compliance technology companies, most notably TRUSTArc, CPA Canada WebTrust, PwC Privacy and BBBOnline.

References

  1. Beal, Vangie (August 7, 2009). "E-Commerce Trustmark". Webopedia. TechnologyAdvice (published May 24, 2021). Retrieved January 25, 2022. ...it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.
  2. Thompson, Frauke; Tuzovic, Sven (March 2019). "Trustmarks: Strategies for exploiting their full potential in e-commerce" (PDF). Business Horizons. 62 (2): 237–247. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2018.09.004. S2CID   158201837 . Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  3. Nicholls, Walter (January 2, 2008). "Surviving the Test of Time: At Good Housekeeping, A Modern Makeover And Old-Fashioned Appeal". Washington Post.
  4. "Trustmark definition". Law Insider. Law Insider Inc. Retrieved January 25, 2022. ...may be provided by an identity trust framework operator to certified identity providers within its identity trust framework or federation…
  5. "Industrial Strategy: government and industry in partnership (Construction 2025)" (PDF). HM Government. UK Crown. July 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2022. One existing scheme in the UK that displays many of these features is TrustMark, which is licensed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to operate to Government endorsed standards.
  6. "Trustmark approved". Regina Sun. Regina, Saskatchewan. March 7, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  7. Bray, Hiawatha (December 14, 2018). "Mozilla, consortium of groups look to back voluntary trustmark system for gadgets". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  8. Deveau, Denise (May 10, 2010). "Secure business". National Post. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved January 25, 2022.