Arlington, VA., June 4, 1998 -- Hewlett-Packard's Chairman and CEO Lewis E. Platt has today written to the CEOs of 70 major corporations to support an online privacy self-regulation program through the Council of Better Business Bureaus' (CBBB) subsidiary, BBBOnLine Inc.
This action by one of the nation's leading computer manufacturers and electronic commerce leaders comes on the heels of requests made over the past several weeks to CBBB and BBBOnline from other leading Internet technology and marketing companies. The companies want BBBOnLine to develop a substantial self-regulation program that heeds the Administration's call for a private sector privacy protection program. The proposed CBBB online privacy protection initiative would build upon the highly successful, well regarded BBBOnLine self-regulation and consumer dispute settlement program.
"Hewlett-Packard is a sponsor of BBBOnLine, and I strongly urge you to join us in this important endeavor," Platt said. "Respecting and protecting online privacy is essential to building consumer trust and confidence in the Internet, and without aggressive, self-regulatory efforts to protect consumers' privacy we can easily predict government regulatory initiatives to fill that void."
Hewlett- Packard Company and other Founding Sponsors of BBBOnLine (www.bbbonline.org) have agreed to establish the program if other leading companies help launch this privacy self-regulation effort by committing the needed start-up funding.
Platt advised his colleagues that in order to succeed, any such privacy self-regulatory effort must be effective and credible. "That's why Hewlett-Packard and a number of other companies support the efforts of BBBOnLine. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) system has the consumer name recognition, stature, and national infrastructure already in place to quickly organize and implement a self-regulatory privacy program."
James L. Bast, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., noted that the BBBOnLine privacy program would fulfill all of the requirements outlined by Commerce Secretary Daley for self-regulation, and is designed to complement an important consumer awareness initiative represented by the business-consumer alliance recently formed to address a broad range of online privacy issues.
"Our program utilizes the strengths of the BBB ' brand,' including its preeminent national advertising self-regulation and dispute resolution program, our consumer mediation and arbitration programs, and our online experience through BBBOnLine in helping consumers find reliable companies through this display of a BBBOnLine seal," Bast said.
Bast praised industry for "stepping up to the plate" two years ago when funding was needed to launch the BBBOnLine self-regulation consumer protection program. To date, more than 1,400 companies have been approved to display the BBBOnLine seal at their web sites, providing consumers with an easy, trusted means to check on the company's reliability.
"It's now time for businesses to demonstrate a similar commitment to self-regulation in the privacy arena. With sufficient industry support, BBBOnLine can expand an already-successful, credible and effective self-regulation program to include consumer privacy protection components," the CBBB president said.
BBBOnLine, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. Founding Sponsors include Ameritech, AT&T Corporation, Eastman Kodak Company, GTE, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Netscape, Procter & Gamble Company, Road Runner Group, A Time Warner Service, Sony Electronics Inc., US West Media Group, Visa U.S.A. Inc., and Xerox Corporation.