page_title: Privacy seal
section_title: European Union
hierarchical_section_title: Privacy seal / International applications / European Union
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: EuroPriSe Logo
context_page_description: A privacy seal is a type of trust seal granted by third party providers for display on a company's website. Companies pay an annual fee to have an image of the third party provider's seal pasted onto their homepage or privacy policy page. Users can click on the seal and be redirected to the web assurance seal service’s website which verifies the validity of the privacy seal. They are meant to act as a visual assurance for consumers that the website in question meets a certain standard of privacy. The idea of a privacy seal originates with its physical manifestation – companies have long sought seals of approval like Good Housekeeping to be placed on their tangible products in order to draw in customers who value "quality". While all web assurance seal services follow the guidelines set by the Federal Trade Commission, some providers may have additional requirements. Checks are then conducted on a regular or random basis to ensure compliance. Privacy seals can be applied to various types of e-commerce websites. Some seal providers even create a special privacy seal that is geared toward a certain product like mobile apps or accounting.
context_section_description: An American creation, privacy seals, have slowly made their way into Europe. Most seal programs are not only American in origin but also mainly consist of U.S. websites. QXL, a now defunct online auction house, was one of the first European companies to receive certification by TRUSTArc. Seal programs in Europe make their main focus reliability of a specific sector rather than privacy protection because the European Union (EU) already has regulations in place. U.S. company, ePublicEye, partnered with France's eBuyClub in 1999 to rate the reliability of shopping websites – they expanded in 2000 to include Germany and Spain. Like the United States, seal programs have failed to gain traction in Europe.
  Prior to the European Union's passage of Directive 95/46/EC, data protection laws were enacted on an individual (country) basis. Also known as "The Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Movement of Such Data", Directive 95/46/EC was passed in 1995. The European Union (EU) not only regulates but also institutionalizes data privacy: every EU country has a data protection commissioner appointed to an agency.
  The European Union has strict regulations for privacy unlike the United States and also needs to ensure the compliance of multiple countries rather than just one. As a result, many American based privacy seal services are used only for their complain resolution services. EuroPrise (started in 2003) is an EU funded project which serves as the main privacy seal service in Europe. Starting in 2009, it has been controlled by the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection Schleswig-Holstein (ULD) which is a German data protection agency. Each EuroPrise seal includes the country of the certification body (company being certified), a unique certification number, and the expiration date. European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA) also has a trust seal geared towards European e-commerce, however it cannot be displayed alone. It needs to be placed next to an accredited e-Commerce trust seal. They are also not solely privacy focused. Privacy and data protection is just one of their requirements for qualification.
  Whereas there is a huge debate between governmental and self-regulation of privacy in the United States, it is less controversial in Europe. This stems from the European idea that the state should have an active role in protecting its constituents from social harm.
caption: Basic Europrise European Privacy Seal - the seal assigned to a company would have the country of origin, certification number, and expiration date
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