Expedia.com Expedia Secures “Triple Crown” of Privacy Protections
Bellevue, WA, Dec. 11, 2000—Expedia.com®, the award-winning travel service, announced today that the company has been awarded the Better Business Bureau Online (BBBOnline) and TRUSTe privacy seals, building on the successful completion of a privacy audit from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) announced in September. These certifications, including the rigorous audit from PWC, represent the “triple crown” of online privacy protections for its customers and show that Expedia.com is living up to all aspects of its privacy policy.
“Privacy is consistently one of the top five concerns consumers raise when purchasing online. Expedia.com is the top e-commerce site to earn this triple crown and the first of the top 10 online travel agent sites (as ranked by Gomez.com) to post any of the three privacy seals,” said Tony Gonchar, Customer Relationship Management Director and Privacy Manager of Expedia, Inc. “The BBBOnline and TRUSTe seals demonstrate that we are dedicated to instilling our customers with confidence and trust in the site. The PWC seal guarantees that we practice what we preach in our privacy promise.”
“Expedia® has passed our rigorous standards for certification and established the necessary self-regulating procedures that will keep consumers' personal data secure,” said Bob Lewin, President and CEO of TRUSTe. “This seal is a sign to customers that Expedia will make it easy to protect personal information online.”
The company received the BBBOnline and TRUSTe seals following the completion of an application process and a detailed assessment of the company's privacy policy. In addition to these seals, Expedia uses leading security technology and procedures that are regularly reviewed by the independent accounting firm Deloitte & Touche.
Description of the seals
The TRUSTe privacy seal is an online branded symbol that signifies that a Web site has posted a privacy statement and, moreover, that the company's data gathering and dissemination practices address the elements of disclosure, choice, access and security outlined in the Federal Trade Commission's fair information practices. Specifically, TRUSTe's licensees must:
Disclose their information gathering and dissemination practices,
Give users choice—through opt-in or opt-out—of any secondary uses of their personal information,
Provide users with access to their personal information to correct any inaccuracies, and ensure that reasonable security mechanisms are being used to protect the data that is collected.
The BBBOnline seal certifies that the information practices of Expedia have been reviewed and meet the standards of the Council of Better Business Bureaus' BBBOnline Privacy Program. This mark verifies that the company:
Designates a person responsible for overseeing the privacy statement and adherence to BBBOnline standards,
Participates in and abides by decisions made through BBBOnline's dispute resolution program,
Provides a privacy notice is easy to read, clearly labeled and linked throughout all areas where personally identifiable information (PII) is available,
Explains all PII gathered, how that PII is used, and how the consumer may update and/or change that information,
Describes any “passive” data collected (i.e. cookies),
Commits to not sharing PII (or if disclosure is necessary, describing why and what data is transferred), Supplies clear switches to change from opt-out to opt-in and vice versa, and
Facilitates security for PII and secures sensitive information with encryption.
In September, Expedia revamped its privacy policy and announced the successful completion of a privacy audit by PWC. The audit certified that the company was living by the language of its privacy policy. The company's privacy policy statement clearly explains that the company will not sell or rent PII and consumers are in control of their data. At any time, a consumer can edit, add, or remove any and all of the information he or she has stored with Expedia.
For more information, please visit Expedia's privacy pledge at: http://www.expedia.com/daily/service/privacy.asp.
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) operates Expedia.com, a leading online Web site in the United States with localized versions for travelers in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. To help customers travel right, Expedia.com provides the best combination of air, car and hotel booking, vacation package and cruise offers, destination information, and point-to-point mapping. Industry experts agree. Expedia's quality and leadership was recognized through several awards, including Yahoo! Internet Life's “Best Overall Travel Site,” Gomez Advisors' “Number One Travel Site for Summer 2000” and PC World's “2000 World Class Award for Best Travel Site.”
Expedia.com customers are supported by a credit card guarantee (U.S. site only), an industry-leading privacy policy, and live agents via e-mail and an 800-number available 24 hours a day/seven days a week. Expedia.com is also available under Travel on the MSN™ network of Internet services.
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