"Trust but verify" is an old Russian proverb that
former president Ronald Reagan used in arms negotiations with his
Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev. Earlier this week, the FTC alleged TRUSTe, an
entity that offers certified privacy seals for companies to display
on their websites, had failed to verify that companies had the
right to display the TRUSTe seal.
In Count I of its complaint, the FTC alleged that although
TRUSTe stated on its own website that websites certified by TRUSTe
must undergo annual recertification to verify ongoing compliance
with TRUSTe's requirements. TRUSTe did not conduct
recertification for more than 1,000 websites between 2006 and
2013. This meant that those websites represented to customers
that they were TRUSTe certified with best privacy practices, when
in fact they had not undergone recertification and could have
slacked in their privacy policies. The FTC alleged that
TRUSTe's conduct constituted a deceptive act or practice.
