While records of online buying are being broken, research continues to show that about a third of all consumers still refuse to consider providing private or confidential data to faceless merchant recipients. To help the movement to e-commerce along faster, several initiatives are now in the works. The CPA WebTrust seal of integrity offers consumers an independent professional's opinion that attests to a Merchant's online trustworthiness. Launched in late-1997, these principles embody fundamental standards for business practices, transaction integrity, and information protection. Auditors check that goods ordered are actually shipped, that payment account information is quickly removed from company Web Servers after it's entered, that confirmation data is provided to the buyer at order completion time, and that contact data is provided to help consumers in the event of order handling or processing problems.
Consumers can verify a seal's authenticity by clicking on it.
If it's legitimate, a graphical certificate appears instructing the buyer on ways to view the underlying WebTrust digital certificate . The certificate that's shown attests that Verisign Inc. was the issuer, that it was issued as a result of a WebTrust examination, that it was issued to the company operating the commerce site, and provides the physical address of the business. Without a legitimate digital certificate behind it, the seal should not be considered valid. Disclosure of business practices for e-commerce and evidence of successful execution of transactions in accordance with these practices. Presence of and adherence to effective controls that assure that orders placed via the e-commerce channel were completed and billed as agreed.