By: An organization that monitors website privacy and e-mail practices for businesses has launched an initiative to certify advertising software as consumer-friendly and non-invasive.
The idea behind the Trusted Download Program is to create a list of acceptable applications to help companies such aS Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. make decisions where to advertise and with whom to partner.
The program covers software used for advertising or tracking user behaviour. Certified adware and other software must obtain consent before downloading, be easy to uninstall and cannot modify computer settings to cause damage.
Yahoo is among the major Internet companies accused in the past of benefiting from adware companies with questionable installation practices. Yahoo has said the certifications could be useful in determining whether to make Yahoo's search results available to other companies as a component of their toolbars and other software products.
TRUSTe announced the program late last year. Last week marked the opening of submissions, though the program remains in a test phase. TRUSTe is requiring participants of its regular certification programs to submit their applications to the Trusted Download Program before renewing their seals.
"Advertisers now can demand that their brand advertising is displayed only in software that is certified by Trusted Download," said Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "This is clearly a giant leap forward for transparency."
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