Trust Is Earned, Not Awarded
Recently I stumbled upon a report written by Ben Edelman, a Massachusetts-based lawyer and spyware researcher, who is on the technical advisory board for McAfee's SiteAdvisor application. The report, which he posted to his site late last year, crystallizes my concern about Truste.
About Truste's longstanding privacy seal program that--according to Truste--has "let consumers know they can trust you more than other businesses when it comes to online privacy," Edelman wrote:
"I cross-reference Truste's ratings with the findings of SiteAdvisor--where robots check web site downloads for spyware, and submit single-use addresses into email forms to check for spam, among other automated and manual tests. Of course SiteAdvisor data isn't perfect either, but if SiteAdvisor says a site is bad news, while Truste gives it a seal, most users are likely to side with SiteAdvisor."
I side with the so-called privacy crusaders like StopBadware.org and companies like Lavasoft, McAfee (with its SiteAdvisor program), and Spybot Search and Destroy . They maintain blacklists of downloads and Web sites to avoid. I'm certain these programs aren't perfect and may mistakenly ban safe software from my PC, but that's okay by me.
Consumers need organizations like Truste to effect change from within. But I think we are at least a decade away from effective oversight of the ad-serving software industry. For now I'm holding grudges against adware companies with murky track records, and sticking with imperfect blacklists. The best form of trust is earned, not awarded.
Have you stumbled on a fishy Web site? Are you having problems with a Web service? Can't get a promised refund? Drop me an e-mail at watchdog@pcworld.com and let me know if I can help.
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