Truste adds $12M for website privacy seal

Truste, a company that provides an Internet privacy and safety seal to business websites, today announced it secured a second funding round of $12 million. The funding will be used expand through sales and marketing while focusing on small businesses.

Truste provides a business with a way to certify that it cares and is thinking about its consumers privacy issues. Customers who are interested in using the seal have to adhere to what the company says are industry privacy standards. For about $240 a year, or $19.95 a month, you’ll get 100 seal views per day for one website as well as a privacy policy and help resolving and consumer complaints.

Of course, a Truste seal is no guarantee against privacy complaints — Facebook, whose privacy policies have sparked plenty of criticism if little drop-off in traffic, is a Truste customer. When asked about Facebook, Truste CEO Chris Babel told VentureBeat:

“We see time and again that consumers care about privacy and react strongly when their privacy expectations are not met – and Facebook is only the most recent example. We’re pleased to see that Facebook responded to users’ and Truste’s requirements and is now offering fundamentally better privacy controls for consumers. Online, where innovation is the foundation of success, delivering privacy isn’t a one-time act, but a process and a commitment. We expect to work closely with Facebook and help them reap the rewards by delivering privacy through increased transparency, accountability and choice.” 

The San Francisco-based company, founded in 1997, claims its seal is hosted by some of the top websites, including Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay, AOL, Adobe, AT&T, Comcast, Disney, Weather.com, Apple, LinkedIn, Web MD, and Yelp

The round of funding was lead by new investor Jafco Ventures. Previous investors DAG Ventures, Accel Partners and Baseline Ventures all participated in the round as well.