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An Open Letter to TRUSTe's Lori Fena
kuro5hin writes "Seeing TRUSTe chairman Lori Fena's name in the list of members of DoubleClick's new Consumer Privacy Advocacy Board was quite a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn't have been. In my opinion, TRUSTe has done more harm than good for online privacy. I explain why in an Open Letter to Lori Fena, which she, and anyone else who cares about their privacy on the web, would do well to read carefully. "
TRUSTe's goal of making sure that companies stick to their privacy policy is an important but small first step.
By failing to take a public hard line against gross violators, however, TRUSTe has lost whatever small claim it had to legitimacy.
What is needed to avoid government regulation of online privacy is an activist, consumer-oriented watchdog group and not a corporate-oriented organization whose implemention is tantamount to having the fox guard the henhouse.
The underlying privacy goals need to be expanded as well, so that consumers can *at a glance* see how a company will use their personal data (now, and potentially in the future) without reading legalese.