What is TrustAssure © ?
What does TrustAssure © provide?
Does TrustAssure © filter the member sites?
What web sites or businesses can become members?
Are there other hidden costs or extra expenses involved?
What are my business benefits in a TrustAssure © membership?
What is the difference between an Associate and Professional member?
What if I become an Associate member and want to upgrade to Professional?
How do I submit a compliment or complaint regarding any TrustAssure © member?
As a new member business will I have to make any special revisions to my
web site?
What if I find a site bearing a TrustAssure © logo seal that does not link
to any verification?
TrustAssure © is a reliability, privacy, and security bureau. TrustAssure ©
maintains an active
database of member web sites and businesses that adhere to high standards
of business
ethics and moral values for public information and review.
What does TrustAssure provide?
When a web site or business exhibits a membership in TrustAssure © it provides
the customer
or visitor from the general public with an assurance of several points.
First, that TrustAssure ©
has reviewed the member site or business for privacy and security procedures
that help to
secure the visitor's rights and information. Second, that TrustAssure © will
provide the potential
customer with a detailed report on any Professional member.
What are my business benefits in a TrustAssure membership?
Studies show that users are 2 - 3 times more likely to purchase a product
or utilize a
service from a business that provides them with a third party bureau method
review of
the business background information, and privacy and security practices.
This means
more viable customers for your business generated by their confidence in
your ethics
and information disclosure. This is especially true on the Internet which
is a faceless
medium where customers are often reluctant to order or provide personal
information.
Does TrustAssure filter the member sites?
No, TrustAssure © reviews member sites to insure that they comply with the
provision of such
measures as a detailed privacy statement, transaction security, and family
value content. As
a parent you may wish to employ the use of extra third party filtering
software to insure that
children do not access unacceptable or offensive material through search
engines or hyperlink
contacts. There are many available including SurfWatch,
NetNanny,
and FamilyConnect.
What if I become an Associate member and want to upgrade to Professional?
You are always free to upgrade your status from Associate to Professional
at any point by
submitting the difference in membership fee of $100.00 US provided that
your web site or
business is in good standing with TrustAssure ©. You will be required to
submit a new online
membership application providing the required Professional member information
for your report
record and your web site will be reviewed again to insure compliance. Professional
members
cannot downgrade to the Associate member level during an active annual
period. If you are
currently a Professional member you may downgrade to an Associate member
level at your
next renewal date. Membership fee for upgrade from an Associate to Professional
is not
prorated regardless of where you are in your current active annual membership
term.
Are there other hidden costs or extra expenses involved?
No, members are responsible for a fixed fee on an annual basis. Associate
membership is
$50.00 US per year and Professional membership is $150.00 US per year.
The difference
in the Professional membership fee covers the expense it takes to maintain
the member
reporting facility.
As a new member business will I have to make any special revisions to my web site?
Yes, as a TrustAssure © member you are required to provide a detailed privacy
statement with
a link on your web site home page that details what personal or business
information your
site gathers from visitors or customers, why this information is gathered,
and who has access
to this information. You should also provide your customers with a SSL
secure form or secure
server for all sensitive information or provide other means of transmission
if a secure server
environment is not available. The privacy statement link should also be
provided at any point
where sensitive information is gathered. Sample P3P Privacy Statement - AT&T P3P Generator
What is the difference between an Associate and Professional member?
An Associate membership offers benefits at a reduced fee to the member.
The Associate
member provides the same reviewed privacy and security to the visitor or
customer without
any extensive reporting facility. Instead the interested visitor may click
on any site posted
Associate member TrustAssure © logo and they will be taken by the hyperlink
to a certification
page that will verify the Associate's membership status. A Professional business
member
is provided with a comprehensive record of
their site or business that details the specifics
such as key personnel, business addresses and information, products and
services offered
and TrustAssure © status information. This information may be updated at
any time.
How do I submit a compliment or complaint regarding any TrustAssure © member?
On the TrustAssure © main page menu there is a section titled Contact
Us. There you will find
two selections. The first selection provides you with an email message
that you may use to
compliment any member site. If you value a member's quality of service
please feel free to
log a compliment on their behalf. Likewise, the second selection allows
you to provide the
TrustAssure © accounting office with a logged complaint againist a member
site or business.
The complaint is forwarded directly to the member in it's entirety for
resolution. You may
review the total number of logged compliments and complaints for any Professional
member
on their respective business report record.
What web sites or businesses can become members?
Unlike other reliance reporting bureaus TrustAssure © is international. Any
web site or business
may apply for membership with the exception of web sites or businesses
that promote offensive
material, hatred issues, pornography, or obscene information. All applicants
are subject to the
TrustAssure © quality review for approval. Approval is never automatic and
is subject to review of
any future web site content revisions. Any web site or business may apply
for either Associate
or Professional membership. The memberships differ on the reporting facility
only.
What if I find a site bearing a TrustAssure © logo seal that does not link to any verification?
Report it immediately to TrustAssure © at our main contact
address. All member TrustAssure ©
logo seal images are required to hyperlink back to the respective Associate
or Professional
certification page so that site visitors and potential customers may verify
TrustAssure © member
status and review any available business or site report records. It may
be a simple hyperlink
problem which we will have corrected or it could be a nonmember site attempting
to display
the TrustAssure © seal without true membership. We value our trademarked
system and will
prosecute any nonmember offender to the maximum legal means. Any member
in violation
of the TrustAssure © Code Of Ethics is subject to warning or membership termination
and will
be requested to remove any and all TrustAssure © logo seal images and links
if they are not
in good standing and active status.