How Can TRUSTed Downloads Work for You?
The TRUSTed Downloads seal that comes with certification will help you increase confidence at the point of download, alerting consumers of the software’s “trusted” standing. Your customers will feel more secure knowing that you abide by industry best practices.
Certified applications are published on a safe-software whitelist. Content and search providers, anti-spyware vendors and online advertisers may use the whitelist as a tool to help make business decisions related to advertising, partnering and distributing software products.
TRUSTed Downloads certification combines strict standards, thorough review, ongoing monitoring, enforcement mechanisms and powerful market incentives to ensure secure downloads. TRUSTed Downloads-certified companies provide consumers with explicit disclosures and control mechanisms, easy uninstall, and respect for their personal information.
Key Features
TRUSTed Downloads privacy certifications follow a comprehensive and proven multi-step process to ensure your privacy practices meet applicable regulatory and industry standards.
Data Collection & Discovery
TRUSTed Download privacy certifications begin with a review of your data privacy management practices for each download you want to certify. We work with you to identify a range of information including what data you collect, how you use it, who you share it with, third party agreements, use of trackers, privacy disclosures, opt-outs, and much more. The TRUSTe team uses a combination of methodologies including a manual evaluation of your privacy practices by our team of privacy analysts, company interviews and on-site engagements, and digital property scanning tools.
Digital Property Scanning Tools
TRUSTe will apply our proprietary scanning technology to the applicable websites and mobile apps, providing comprehensive insight into the variety of data collection activities happening throughout your site and apps. The scan will uncover what could take dozens to hundreds of hours to accomplish manually with internal resources. You’ll find the first and third party trackers with detailed information about them including identity, location, type of tracker and URL. The scan will also shed light into the tracking technologies used, and the entire chain of tracker source (“daisy chain”). You will also get a scoring and evaluation of third party tracker severity, using a proprietary algorithm that calculates its Privacy Sensitivity Index (PSI). It will also provide insights into personally identifiable information (PII) data collection.
Privacy Findings Report & Gap Analysis
We present you with a Privacy Findings Report summarizing a gap analysis between your privacy practices and the TRUSTed Download Privacy Program Requirements along with the changes you need to make to your data privacy management practices and privacy policies to achieve certification. The TRUSTe Privacy Program Requirements are built upon the core principles of transparency, choice and accountability and they provide a comprehensive set of requirements based on applicable privacy regulations, industry self-regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.
Certified Privacy Seal
Once we validate that you’ve implemented the changes outlined in the Privacy Findings Report, you get access to the TRUSTed Download Privacy Seal. The seal is recognized globally as a high standard for privacy management and displayed on thousands of websites and apps. You can display the seal both on your download page as well as in other prominent places to demonstrate your commitment to privacy. The seal is hosted by TRUSTe and linked to a TRUSTe Validation Page to provide real-time verification that your certification is current and valid.
Letter of Attestation
Once certification is complete, you can request a customized letter of attestation that your company is a TRUSTe client that has undergone a review and alignment with TRUSTe’s privacy program requirements. This attestation can be shared with clients and business partners as part of RFPs and other processes reviews to complement the TRUSTe Seal, providing a competitive distinction and selling point.
Safe Software Whitelist
Once you’re certified, we’ll invite you to join our safe-software whitelist. This “whitelist” of certified downloads serves as a reference tool to distinguish responsible software applications.
Privacy Dispute Resolution Service
You also get access to our third-party dispute resolution service, which helps you efficiently manage privacy inquiries from customers. It also addresses the dispute handling requirements for regulatory programs like the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework.
Ongoing Privacy Guidance
TRUSTed Downloads also provides you with access to ongoing privacy guidance as it relates to your TRUSTe certification. You’ll get access to TRUSTe Privacy Solutions experts along with Educational Webinars, Seminars, White Papers, and Research Reports.
TRUSTe Data Privacy Management Services
TRUSTed Downloads Privacy Certification is a part of our full suite of Data Privacy Management (DPM) Service solutions. DPM Services are managed by a team of TRUSTe privacy professionals, backed by almost two decades of privacy expertise and extensive experience working with thousands of clients across all industries along with key regulatory and industry groups. Our privacy professionals leverage a proven methodology and the power of our industry leading DPM platform.
TRUSTe Data Privacy Management Platform
The TRUSTe Platform is our comprehensive, SaaS-based technology solution which is available stand-alone and also used by TRUSTe to deliver our Assessments and Certifications.
For more information, visit the TRUSTe Data Privacy Management Platform.
