What do companies need to do before consumers find them trustworthy? The most important factor is their overall reputation for product and service quality, followed by how they limit the collection of customers' personal information. The third criterion is the use of advertisements and solicitations that respect consumer privacy.

A study of more than 6,300 consumers conducted by Ponemon Institute and the nonprofit TRUSTe, a global privacy certification and seal program, found these criteria to be the most important indicators of trust. Based on these criteria, eBay is the most trusted company for privacy in America. Other companies listed in the top 10 include (in descending order): American Express, Procter & Gamble (all brands), Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, U.S. Postal Service, IBM, Earthlink, Citibank and Dell.

The study, conducted on the Web and via standard mail, asked respondents to name one to five companies in 24 industries that they believed to be most trustworthy when handling their personal information. Consumers believe that Internet companies, banks and healthcare organizations are doing the most to earn their trust. Company names were not provided in the study to allow each participant to freely select the organizations believed to be the most trusted for privacy in the industries listed in the survey.

Recent research that we have conducted at Ponemon Institute has focused on consumers' trust in retail banking, websites, the government and, most recently, the airline industry. This is the first study, however, to link consumers' perceptions of a company's ability to protect his/her personal information to specific products and brands. Because consumers are becoming more concerned about identity theft and the safeguarding of their personal assets, I believe a low privacy trust score could provide companies with an early warning signal that their reputation and brand loyalty might be in jeopardy.

Trust Is Good for Business
Scott Shipman, privacy counsel of eBay, believes privacy is a key component of the trust that is crucial to the success of the eBay marketplace. "We work closely with the eBay community to maintain the transparency of the marketplace while protecting the privacy of our users," says Shipman.

Another top company is Procter & Gamble. Sandra Hughes, the company's global privacy executive, says that trust enables her company to learn from consumers. According to Hughes, "the consumers' willingness to share information about the various brands P&G markets leads to better products to improve their everyday lives."

In addition to contributing to profitability, many companies believe protecting the privacy of customers and employees is part of being a good corporate citizen. (See this piece in CIO magazine: Privacy is Your Business.) "Not only is privacy protection paramount to supporting Hewlett-Packard's brand," says Barbara Lawler, chief privacy officer of HP, "it is part of our responsibility as an exemplary corporate citizen."

The study also asked participants to indicate the importance of privacy when sharing personal information. More than 80 percent said the privacy practices of companies were either very important or important to their decision to share information. The most sensitive information categories of information are: health information, credit card number, Social Security number and financial history.

Our study also indicates that the percentage of consumers impacted by unwanted e-mail activity has nearly doubled in the past year to 58 percent. Consumers were asked what worries them most if their personal information were leaked to individuals or organizations that were not authorized to receive the information. Seventy-six percent said that identity theft was their biggest concern followed by stolen assets (32%) and stalking or spying activities (21%).

The results of the study were released last week at the International Association of Privacy Professionals and TRUSTe Privacy Futures Symposium in San Francisco. For a copy of the report, the Ponemon Institute & TRUSTe Most Trusted Companies for Privacy, please contact research@ponemon.org.