Guest blogging today is Verizon's Chief Privacy Officer, Kathy Zanowick. She's held that position for us since April of 2006. See our related PolicyBlogTV discussion here. -- CZ
Somewhere along the way we’ve all heard the saying: Trust is the cornerstone of any good relationship.
So it is with the relationships we enjoy with our customers and with the millions of people around the globe who entrust their communications to us. We know consumers will only use the full capabilities of Verizon’s advanced networks if they trust that their information will remain private, so privacy guides all of our business operations.
It was, therefore very gratifying to have independent privacy experts rank Verizon the most trusted communications company for privacy. Verizon was the only telecommunications company or cable provider to make the list of 2009 Most Trusted Companies for Privacy Award winners. Verizon ranked No. 2 nationally. The Most Trusted Companies for Privacy Award is commissioned by Ponemon Institute, an information security research company, and TRUSTe, the most widely recognized privacy trustmark company on the Web.
The award is designed to celebrate the companies who take active measures to protect and inform their consumers and to encourage a safer online ecosystem. eBay ranked No. 1 and the United States Postal Service ranked third. Congratulations to them both.
And congratulations to our employees! They are on the frontlines. It is our employees' commitment to observing our policies and executing our procedures that help safeguard our customers’ communications and information every day. Their commitment was put to the test by experts at the Ponemon Institute whose review included an evaluation of policies and practices as well as interaction with support staff.
The two-stage survey gauges the privacy policies and practices of leading consumer brands. First, the companies across the U.S. were rated as “most trusted” in an unaided survey of 6,486 adult-aged U.S. consumers. Second, the top 20 ranked companies from the consumer survey were judged by an expert review panel at the Ponemon Institute based on rigorous criteria, including the clarity and readability of privacy statements, notice, access to account information, cookie management, in- and out-of-network data sharing practices and more.
This year, Verizon became the first telecommunications company to ever make it to the list’s top three. That’s something that every Verizon employee can take pride in. And perhaps more importantly, I believe it will reinforce our longstanding commitment to keeping our customers’ information secure.