US group TRUSTe, which offers privacy seals to web sites with
privacy practices meeting its criteria, has announced plans to
develop a set of symbols that would summarise the content of
privacy policies for internet users. The aim is to help web site
visitors quickly assess the data practices using a summarised,
easy-to-understand format.
While TRUSTe says it will avoid symbols such as smiling faces
that could imply approval of a site, there is a risk with such a
system that an important part of a particular privacy policy will
be missed if it cannot be categorised within the available symbols.
The full details of the symbol system are due to be announced later
today by TRUSTe.
TRUSTe spokesman David Steer told news agency Reuters that these
privacy symbols may prove especially useful to users who access the
internet through mobile phones, personal digital assistants
(PDA’s), or other mobile devices with limited display space.
See: www.truste.org
