Online Group Creates an E-Mail Seal
An e-mail certification program designed to help consumers control their inboxes was launched today with support from major companies and trade groups.
Created by Truste and ePrivacy Group Trusted Sender will allow compliant companies to carry a seal in the top right corner of their messages.
The seal will establish that the company follows program guidelines on fair information practices. It will also show that the firm is accountable, and that the subject line reflects the content of the e-mail, according to Truste.
Truste, a nonprofit group that runs a similar seal program for Web sites, will also help consumers resolve disputes.
The initiative was unveiled at the Privacy and Security Summit in Washington, DC. It has the backing of the Association of Privacy Officers and the Association of Interactive Marketing.
Corporate supporters include Microsoft, ClickAction, DoubleClick, RappCollins Innovyx, E-Dialog, Enterprise Marketing Solutions and Virtumundo.
“It’s a good thing for consumers because it gives them yet another mechanism for gauging whether an e-mail is solicited or unsolicited,” said Geoff Smith, director of client programs for ClickAction. “It’s a good thing for marketers because it gives them a way for e-mail to be delivered unhindered to recipients.”
Smith added that as ISPs get involved, “we will finally have the capability to let e-mail pass without going into a bulk mail folder.”
EPrivacy Group is a privacy consulting and training company.
In a related development, an Federal Trade Commission official said today that the commission is about to announce enforcement actions against deceptive e-mailers.
E. Howard Beales, the director of the FTC’s enforcement bureau, said the FTC is cracking down on pyramid schemes, get-rich-quick opportunities, chain letters and other scams, according to Reuters.
“We think that if that went away, there would be a whole less spam in the world,” Beales told Reuters.
The deceptive spam program was announced last year by FTC chairman Timothy J. Muris (DIRECT Newsline, Oct. 4, 2001).
