TrustE Proposes Privacy SymbolsTrustE Proposes Privacy Symbols

Nonprofit privacy organization TrustE has unveiled a program to create a common set of icons that would be displayed on Web sites to explain their privacy practices. In a speech to the Congressional Internet Caucus in Washington, D.C., TrustE chairman Lori Fena proposed the initiative as a way to help consumers tell at a glance exactly how their personal information is being handled.

The privacy symbols will be assigned to Web sites by TrustE and other accredited third-party oversight groups, says a TrustE spokesman. The symbols, which have yet to be designed, will provide information such as whether or not a site uses personal data for marketing. They'll operate in conjunction with TrustE's existing privacy seals of approval, but aren't meant to serve as a grading system. "These symbols are not going to be judgmental," the spokesman says.

He says the icons will be particularly useful for surfers using cell-phone- and PDA-based Web browsers because they'll let visitors examine privacy information without needing a great deal of screen space.

TrustE also plans to create a "Privacy Label," which will serve as a summary of a site's privacy practices in the same way a nutritional label describes the contents of a food product.

To promote use of the new labels and symbols, TrustE is working to build a broad coalition of public and private groups. Initial supporters include the Information Technology Association of America, the Personal Communications Industry Association, and the Wireless Advertising Association. Says the TrustE spokesman: "We'll be doing heavy outreach in the coming weeks and months to get people around the table."