1. PayPal
With PayPal being required on more transactions, regardless of what some cynics may believe, it has definitely increased the odds exponentially of a buyer experiencing a successful, private transaction. In fact, I would argue that the PayPal integration has added privacy to the site overall and that the perceived trust that comes along with that is inevitable.

2. Standardized Privacy Policies
It’s not sexy but then neither is Trust & Privacy when you think about it (no offense to Scott), but over the past 12 months Scott’s team has conducted a painstakingly clinical assessment and completed a thorough update and standardization of eBay’s privacy policies around the world. I realize that the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe report is based on North America only but this behind-the-scenes effort can only help earn credibility in privacy and trust.

3. eBay AdChoice
eBay first rolled out AdChoice, as part of its behavioral ad targeting, back in 2007.
Scott posted to the Announcement Board in October, 2007, in which he said:

“Your online privacy and safety is paramount to eBay, and we think AdChoice is a good example of what a company with a strong commitment to privacy can do to ensure transparency and control over personalized advertising. We’re glad to be a pioneer in this area, and we’re pleased that these issues are getting attention from many other companies these days, too. We all benefit as the industry raises the bar on privacy.”

Behavioral targeting became a significant public issue in 2008 but Scott’s team had already got out in front of it, meeting with the FTC in November of 2007 and enhancing the AdChoice program heading into 2008.

Not a Popularity Contest
Having said all of this, first and foremost, I guess this isn’t a brand popularity contest. It’s not about who is the flavor of the month with the media (Google didn’t make the cut this year; Apple and Yahoo! weren’t on it last year). It’s about feeling safe, secure and private when using the services of a particular company (NOTE: I should point out that the report does not break down the different business units of eBay… it covers all sub-brands of the eBay Inc. umbrella – PayPal, eBay.com, Skype, StubHub, etc.).

Every eBay initiative since I joined the company in January has been focused on the “buyer experience.” So when all is said and done, I would argue that this report validates and supports those business initiatives for 2008. (I know, I know, let’s see 6,500 eBay sellers receive the same questions and then where will eBay land on the list?).

I’ll leave you with a very interesting comment from my conversation with Scott. He said that Privacy is all about transparency, all about communicating with the customer and having the customer feel like they have all the necessary information at their disposal in order to make an educated decision to trust the company. I think eBay has been very hit and miss in this department for 2008. I think executives have taken steps (granted they’re somewhat baby steps – but steps nonetheless) to be more transparent, to share information at a public level. Additionally, I believe that eBay has a high number of communication outlets that are extremely disparate and are, quite simply, unknown. Thankfully, there are a lot of initiatives in place for online communication in 2009 that are light-years beyond where we are currently and I look forward to being a big part of their development.

Regardless of how you feel about eBay as a brand going into 2009, it is a fantastic achievement by the company to rank #1 in trust and privacy online, at a time when concern about online privacy is at an all-time high.

Cheers,
RBH

**What is Privacy Trust? (As defined by TRUSTe and Ponemon Institute):
Privacy trust is a process companies can implement to motivate trust and confidence in how its leaders, employees and contractors (vendors) protect and secure private information about people and their families. Privacy trust requires a company to ensure that actual practices are aligned with the public’s perception about how their personal information is used, shared and retained. The key components of privacy trust are:
• Notice – Companies should clearly communicate their privacy policies and data practices to customers. These policies must be updated to reflect any changes in practices and policy.
• Choice or Consent – Companies should respect customers’ personal data and will not share non-public personal data, except as permitted or required by law.
• Access and Redress – Customer and employees should have reasonable access to their personal information as required by law and have the ability to correct any inaccuracies or misinformation held about them.
• Prudent Security – Companies need to take reasonable measures to protect data and limit access by unauthorized parties.
• Data Minimization and Accuracy – Companies should avoid collecting information they never need or plan to use. While the cost of storage is nominal, the excess information creates data integrity, quality and accuracy problems.

Aside from the ever-evolving threat of phishing and malware (stay tuned for more on that), attendees of the event heard about the latest trends, tools and techniques developed by the eBay team to assist the investigators in cases involving online fraud, stolen property and counterfeit goods. Check out real cases in the eBay police blotter.

The day started with an overview of eBay and PayPal’s Global Law Enforcement Operations. Of special note was eBay’s successful detection, monitoring and takedown strategy which consistently removes potentially fraudulent listings. eBay’s cooperation with intellectual property rights owners through the Verified Rights Owners (VERO) program has resulted in significant decreases in the listings of counterfeit items on eBay. As an intellectual property rights and online safety consultant, I strongly recommend working with eBay through programs like this to fight counterfeiting head-on. The day ended with a superb panel of eBay’s top experts who talked about international investigations. Having worked internationally for many years, I really identified with the thrust of this panel as they explained good cross-border cooperation and liaison, and having trusted partnerships with global enforcement agencies— a proven formula for success. Coincidentally, I gave a similar message to a class of agents at the FBI Academy just the day before.

Overall it was a great day for information sharing and networking to strengthen those very important ties between eBay/PayPal and the enforcement community.

While the majority of transactions occur without a problem, if you suspect fraud or other criminal activity on eBay or any e-commerce site, by all means report it to law enforcement first—here are some good sites: www.ic3.gov, and www.ftc.gov. You should also report suspicious listings and others problems directly to eBay.

Law enforcement officers can contact eBay’s Fraud Investigations Team (FIT) here for assistance and can click here to arrange a training session.

Thanks,
Rich LaMagna
eBay Online Safety Advisor

In the announcement, John talked about a common fraud practice in which individuals access another user’s account and set up listings in that person’s name. He said, “they gain this access often through a phishing email that convinces an unsuspecting member to click a link and enter their User ID and password.”

We all know that the threat of identity fraud is with us all the time (I’ve received 9 such attempts in the first week of eBay Ink going live). However, I’m glad I read the message from John before clicking on all of my email earlier this morning because the latest attempt sent my way was yesterday, and I almost clicked on the link this time around.

He went on to say that “to protect the Community against this type of fraud, beginning today, eBay will start noting which computers members typically use to conduct their buying and selling activity. After our data collection phase, sometime in June eBay will begin verifying our sellers when they list an item to ensure they are logging in from the same machines they have successfully used previously – usually a home or business computer.”

This new level of security / identity confirmation process is only going to be applied to the seller side of the transaction to begin with. If you are a seller, and you attempt to list an item from a different computer, eBay will make an automated call to the phone number you have registered to confirm it is really you. They may also prompt you to verify your identity in other ways.

I think its obviously beneficial that we continue to improve secure and safe transactions but what if my account is registered with my home phone number but I’m trying to list an item from a library or hotel PC (as is the example given in John’s message)? Do I need to be able to answer the phone directly in order to proceed?

From what I can tell, the answer is yes. John recommended that all sellers should register their cell phone or mobile device as a secondary phone number so that you can be reached wherever you may be attempting to complete a listing. I realize nearly everyone has a cell phone these days, but I’m pretty sure this means that those without a cell phone will only be to able to make a listing from a) one location and/or b) the same PC. Is this where Skype comes into play?

Are there sellers out there that fall into this category? How would this change the way you list items? Would it?

If you check out the message from John, you’ll see some quick recommended steps to help with this new security initiative. There will also be a workshop about Trusted Selling with Identity Confirmation on May 6 in which the security team will be taking member questions.

For now, I’ll continue to view and open any emails from unknown sources with a due sense of scrutiny.

Cheers,
RBH