How to Treat Testimonial PII Respectfully

Many TRUSTe certified Web sites use customer testimonials to add credibility to their business and to fortify their marketing messages. Testimonials can be valuable tools in the context of professional services because they are the next best thing to a direct referral.

When sealholders post testimonials along with the full name of the person providing the testimonial on their Web site, TRUSTe encourages sealholders to:

1) Obtain consent prior to posting personally identifiable information along with the testimonial.

2) Disclose in their privacy policy that the Web site does obtain consent prior to posting personally identifiable information along with the testimonial.

3) Provide a mechanism for the person to request the testimonial be removed from the Web site. This can simply be an email address the person can write to.

If you have any questions regarding the use of testimonials on your Web site, please contact your client services manager.

AJ Leighton is a client services manager at TRUSTe.

Read past tips on http://www.truste.org/sealholders/tech_tips.php.

 

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