Identity Theft News

eBay, Yahoo, Facebook among most trusted websites for privacy

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The most trusted brands for online privacy include eBay, Verizon and Yahoo, according to a new survey by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe.

The U.S. Postal Service was ranked third this year, a first for a government agency. Facebook, WebMD and IBM were also ranked in the top 10 for online privacy.

Along with a survey of adults, the Ponemon Institute judged the companies based on criteria, including the clarity and readability of privacy statements, notice, access to account information, cookie management, in- and out-of-network data sharing practices, as well as the availability of customer service staff.

Facebook made its first ever appearance in the top 10, despite a tumultuous year for the social network's privacy practices, including a reworking of its privacy settings at the request of Canada.

Identity theft is still a major concern for users of online social networks, while ID theft scams such as spear phishing have grown. People who post personal information such as date of birth and hometown may also expose themselves to identity theft.

Researchers recently discovered a formula for easily guessing a person's Social Security number based on their year and place of birth.
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