Gratis Network and TRUSTe Together Again

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet

A couple of days ago, TRUSTe made it known to the internet community that for the first time in two years they were going to suspend a sites status as a TRUSTe sealbearer. Gratis Network was to be the one to garner that dubious acheivement, but today the companies announced they have come to an agreement. If you read the release, you basically see that Gratis has decided to comply and go through corporate training. This basically tells us that they are admitting to wrongdoing. Regardless of what kind of training they go through and compliance they follow from here forward, what about all the damage already done? Multitudes of Gratis members have complained about all the spam they get just from signing up to any Gratis Internet site looking to gain free electronics. Check out the full press release after the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contacts:
Gratis Internet
Terry Banks
(202) 828-9710
bankst@fleishman.com Dominic Ybarra
FitzGerald Communications
dybarra@fitzgerald.com

TRUSTe and FREEIPODS.COM AGREE TO WORK TOGETHER TO ENSURE CUSTOMER PRIVACY

Gratis Internet to Comply with All TRUSTe Privacy Program Requirements

Washington, DC Feb. 11, 2005 Gratis Internet, Inc. today announced with TRUSTe, the leading online privacy non-profit organization, that the two organizations would work together for the benefit of consumers to ensure Gratis websites are in compliance with the TRUSTe program requirements.

On February 9th, TRUSTe previously notified the internet community that it had suspended Gratis Internets status as a TRUSTe sealholder. As previously noted Gratis had made substantial efforts to comply with the program requirements, and correct the violations in their privacy practices and statement. Gratis will finalize the required changes, participate in organizational privacy training, and recommit to becoming re-certified under the TRUSTe program. Today, both companies agreed to work together to protect the privacy of customers of FreeiPods.com, FreeDesktopPC.com, FreeHandBags.com, and FreeFlatScreens.com.

Freeipods and the Gratis Internet family of websites want to reaffirm our commitment to protecting the privacy of our customers, said Rob Jewell, co-founder of Gratis Internet. We will continue to work with TRUSTe to provide the highest level of protection to our customers.

We are pleased that Gratis has agreed to finalize its compliance with the program requirements and to participate in our training program, said Fran Maier, executive director and president of TRUSTe. In pursuit of our mission to increase trust on the internet, consumers will benefit from our third party oversight, monitoring and dispute resolution of the Gratis websites.

ABOUT TRUSTe

TRUSTe is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world.

Founded in 1997, TRUSTe runs an award-winning global privacy certification and seal program. Its seal programs are considered Safe Harbors for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the EU Safe Harbor Framework. Today, TRUSTe maintains the largest privacy seal program with more than 1,400 Web sites certified throughout the world including AOL, Microsoft, IBM, Nationwide and The New York Times. TRUSTe’s mission extends standards, certification and oversight into email with Bonded Sender and wireless with the Wireless Advisory Committee. For more information on TRUSTe please visit www.truste.org.