Best TRUSTe Hosting: Which Host Is Right For Your Site?

What is TRUSTe Hosting?

If you’ve been on the internet for any amount of time, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the TRUSTe logo somewhere and it’s an extreme likelihood that you have done some type of transaction on any one of the countless web sites that are certified by TRUSTe. Sites like Yelp, eBay, and Apple are just some of the many examples of Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) companies that are certified by the service.

This is a mark of assurance that tells the public that the organization has undergone a validation of membership requirements that are focused on keeping data safe. These include such items as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the EU-US Safe Harbor Framework and others. The idea is that clients recognize the logo, how it was achieved and that translates into the confirmation that privacy is taken seriously.

About TRUSTe

TRUSTe is a data privacy management (DPM) company based in San Francisco. TRUSTe stands for True Ultimate Standards Everywhere, Inc. Their product is designed to certify and aid organizations on standards of practice of collecting and using customer data across a variety of platforms in a safe, secure manner.

In its course of business TRUSTe assesses, monitors, and certifies structures for its clients like websites, mobile apps, cloud, and advertising channels. The goal is to allow companies “to safely collect and use customer data to power their business”.

By incorporating various regulatory requirements and industry best practices from throughout the world, including those of the United States and North America, European Union, and Asia Pacific regions into its review of digital properties, TRUSTe provides a high regarded certification and it’s clear to see why so many businesses look to acquire this seal. To those ends, TRUSTe’s seal is in use at over 5,000 companies around their world. With their industry leading Data Privacy Management platform and globally recognized Certified Privacy Seal behind them, it is a leading mark of trust and certification for data privacy.

The company has clients from across the spectrum from the largest enterprise to the smallest startups, so the service is portable and designed to grow with a company. Entrenched in many verticals and e-commerce, TRUSTe’s clients are typically businesses that want to increase user engagement, protect their brand and minimize any compliance risks.

Assessment and Certification

The Data Privacy Management Platform is a comprehensive tool available from TRUSTe. The platform includes a privacy assessment where the company examines your data collection practices across all platforms and channels. If you address any issues found in the assessment, you will be rewarded a privacy certification and seal for your site.

You also get access to several monitoring tools and compliance controls, such as dispute resolution, consent management for European Union privacy regulations, advertising controls, and website, app, and ad monitoring. TRUSTe’s DPM platform is SaaS-based, which means it is powered by the cloud with nothing to install locally. It also leverages its technology to address and evaluate data privacy needs through assessments, compliance control tools and ongoing monitoring.

The recognizable TRUSTe privacy certification seal is awarded to sites in several categories. Each one has its own requirements for certification. The available categories for certification are: Websites, apps, cloud (as in data processing or software as a service), data, children’s privacy, ads, mobile ads, consent manager, downloads, Smart Grid, EU Safe Harbor, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) privacy.

Some Web hosting providers offer TRUSTe subscriptions as an easy add-on to your hosting plan, letting you display a privacy policy for your site visitors. This way you don’t have to worry about writing one yourself. Typically you may choose between paying a lower price, which includes the policy but not the privacy seal, or a higher price, which allows you to display the TRUSTe seal on your website. If you already have hosting and need a privacy policy, contact your hosting provider to find out if they offer TRUSTe subscriptions.

At the end of the day, TRUSTe solutions and logos are designed as a valuable service for e-commerce and other sites. Businesses that use TRUSTe are free to continue the development of new products, marketing and much more while adhering to the best practices for customers. At the same time, customers, partners and the industry can easily verify this based on their knowledge of the TRUSTe program.