TRUSTe:

TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit privacy initiative dedicated to building knwoledge workers' trust and confidence on the Internet and accelerating growth of the Internet industry. Sponsors a third-party oversight "seal" program that alleviates knowledge workers' concerns about online privacy, while meeting the specific business needs of each of their licensed Web sites. The TRUSTe program is backed by a multi-faceted assurance process that establishes Web site credibility, thereby making knowledge workers' more comfortable when making online purchases or providing personal information.

BBB Online:

A wholly owned subsidiary of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, BBBOnLine's mission is to promote trust and confidence on the Internet through, the BBBOnLine Reliability and the BBBOnLine Privacy programs.

Verisign:

Provides Internet trust services - including authentication, validation and payment - needed by Web sites, enterprises, and e-commerce service providers to conduct trusted and secure electronic commerce and communications over IP networks. The company has established strategic relationships with industry leaders, such as AT&T, British Telecommunications, Checkpoint Technologies, Cisco, Microsoft, Netscape, Network Associates, Network Solutions, RSA Security, and VISA, to enable widespread utilization of digital certificate services and to assure interoperability with a variety of applications and network equipment.

Online Privacy Alliance:

The Online Privacy Alliance will lead and support self-regulatory initiatives that create an environment of trust and that foster the protection of individuals' privacy online and in electronic commerce. The Alliance will:

• Identify and advance effective online privacy policies across the private sector
• Support and foster the development and use of self-regulatory enforcement mechanisms and activities, as well as user empowerment technology tools, designed to protect individuals' privacy
• Support compliance with and strong enforcement of applicable laws and regulations
• Support and foster the development and use of practices and policies that protect the privacy of children
• Promote broad awareness of and participation in Alliance initiatives by businesses, non-profits, policy makers and consumers
• Seek input and support for Alliance initiatives from consumer, business, academic, advocacy and other organizations that share its commitment to privacy protection.

ePublic Eye:

ePublicEye.com is an independent third party that allows consumers to rate e-business for reliability, privacy and customer satisfaction. Since 1996, ePublicEye.com's proprietary monitoring system has been providing the information consumers care about most. We call this information eConsumer Intelligence(tm) and with it, Internet shoppers are empowered to make confident buying decisions. This is achieved through our Open Customer Satisfaction Reporting system (OCSR). The heart of the system is a interactive "seal and monitoring" feature that uses customer feedback to let consumers identify companies that are reliable and committed to customer satisfaction. Using the same stream of consumer feedback, ePublicEye.com also enables merchants to better understand their customer's needs, and provide a safer more satisfying shopping experience. Pioneers in the use of consumer feedback to promote safer e-commerce, ePublicEye.com is the first company to use consumer intelligence to empower both consumers and merchants. As a result, ePublicEye.com has grown to become a trusted infomediary between buyers and sellers and our service is now used by thousands of consumers and merchants every day.

Webassured.com:

Established a Universal Standard of Ethics by which the global Internet community expects on-line businesses to operate, and allows the community to directly monitor and enforce adherence to those standards through the application of "pressure through publicity". ShopAssured browser plug-in puts the power of collective business reliability intelligence directly into a customers's web browser, so a leap of faith is no longer required to make a purchase. At the instant a web-site is loaded, ShopAssured customers know whether the site can be trusted to deliver as promised. And with the ShopAssured tool bar customers are never more than a click away from telling the whole world about problems - or successes - with a particular web-site.

ValidatedSite.com:

When the ValidatedSite™ seal appears on a website, surfers can trust that critical general information such as phone numbers, email and postal addresses for that web site and company have been verified and validated by an independent third-party organization.  Trust that Websites displaying the ValidatedSite™  seal are who they claim to be.

Sites offering the ValidatedSite.com Seal:

• Are operating with active email addresses
• Received then replied to a certified letter
• Sent notarized information about their company and its owners
• Provided photocopies of recent phone bills for both the company itself and an officers residence
• Provided a photocopy of a top company officers' driver license that matched the name and residence as completed in notarized forms.

 What Sites Will Not Receive the ValidatedSite.com:

• Companies with virtual or fraudulent addresses or phone numbers
• Any company that refuses to provide users an ability to locate them when things go wrong
• Any company with unanswered complaints from consumers that are brought to our attention
• A company that sells or makes available to other your email address under any set of circumstances
• A website that does not meet our criteria when it comes to protecting you with their privacy policy

Anonymizer:

Anonymizer.com is a pioneer of Internet privacy technologies and the most popular and trusted name in online privacy services. Anonymizer.com has offered users the ability to surf the web in a private and anonymous fashion since 1996. Based in San Diego, our proxy servers currently load over a million pages per day for our subscribers and free users. Here is why our electronic privacy service is important.

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC):

EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. EPIC is a project of the Fund for Constitutional Government. EPIC works in association with Privacy International, an international human rights group based in London, UK and is also a member of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign, the Internet Free Expression Alliance, the Internet Privacy Coalition, and the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD).

Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT):

CDT Mission The Center for Democracy and Technology works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF):

EFF is a non-profit, non-partisan organization working in the public interest to protect fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and freedom of expression in the arena of computers and the Internet. EFF was founded in 1990, and is based in San Francisco, California, with a satellite office in Washington, DC. The same forces that make technology such a positive force, such as the speed and ease of transmitting or evaluating information, can pose substantial challenges to basic human and legal rights. EFF is one of the leading organizations focused on representing the rights of individuals worldwide from those threats.

Computer Security Index at Yahoo:

Directory of various sites and information in 35 categories

The PRC offers consumers a unique opportunity to learn how to protect their personal privacy. Publications provide in-depth information on a variety of informational privacy issues, as well as practical tips on safeguarding personal privacy. The PRC was established with funding from the Telecommunications Education Trust, a program of the California Public Utilities Commission. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) joins the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse! Visit the section about this exciting new program which is designed to assist victims of identity theft as well as provide information to decrease the potential victim population.

Americans for Computer Privacy:

Americans for Computer Privacy (ACP) is a broad-based coalition that brings together more than 100 companies and 40 associations representing financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, high-tech and transportation, as well as law enforcement, civil-liberty, pro-family and taxpayer groups. ACP supports policies that advance the rights of American citizens to encode information without fear of government intrusion, and advocates the lifting of export restrictions on U.S.-made encryption products. ACP also supports policies that promote industry led, market driven solutions to critical information infrastructure protection and opposes government efforts to impose mandates or design standards, or to increase widespread monitoring or surveillance.

California Office of Privacy Protection

CIO Cyberthreat Response & Reporting Guidelines