Dispute Resolution Process
Who can file a complaint?
Who are the parties in a complaint?
What constitutes an eligible complaint?
What constitutes an ineligible complaint?
Is TRUSTe obliged to consider all filed complaints?
What remedies are available to me as a Complainant?
How do I file a complaint?
What happens during the Dispute Resolution process?
When does TRUSTe close a complaint?
Dispute Resolution — Appeals Process
How do I appeal the decision on a complaint?
What happens after I file an appeal?
Who can file a complaint?
Any individual may file a complaint against a TRUSTe Client through the Dispute Resolution program.
Who are the parties in a complaint?
The parties are:
- Complainant: The individual complaining about either a Client’s misuse of personally identifiable information (PII) or a violation of its privacy statement
- Client: The company about which the Complainant is complaining
What constitutes an eligible complaint?
In order for a complaint to be considered eligible in the program, all of the following must be true:
- The complaint is about a company that holds an authentic TRUSTe seal or has contracted for TRUSTe Dispute Resolution services
- The Complainant has already made a good-faith attempt to resolve the problem directly with the Client
- The complaint raises an online privacy issue that affects the personally identifiable information of either the Complainant or that of an individual for whom the Complainant is parent or legal guardian.
- The privacy complaint alleges that the Client collected, used or disclosed the personally identifiable information in a manner inconsistent with its published online privacy statement
- The privacy complaint is in English or the Client has secured appropriate translation services
- The privacy complaint is lodged with TRUSTe via the Dispute Resolution form on the TRUSTe website
What constitutes an ineligible complaint?
A complaint that either doesn’t satisfy the criteria for an eligible complaint OR has any of the following characteristics is ineligible to be considered in the TRUSTe Dispute Resolution program:
- The privacy complaint seeks only monetary damages
- The privacy complaint alleges fraud or other violations of statutory or regulatory law
- The privacy complaint has been resolved under a previous court action, arbitration, or other form of dispute resolution
Is TRUSTe obliged to consider all filed complaints?
TRUSTe reviews all complaints properly filed via our Dispute Resolution mechanism; however, TRUSTe is not obligated to pursue any complaint that it deems frivolous or that constitutes harassment of either TRUSTe or a TRUSTe client.
TRUSTe defines a frivolous complaint as one that either has no factual basis, or that does not relate to any obligations imposed by the TRUSTe License Agreement. Harassing complaints include successive complaints based on allegations that TRUSTe has previously addressed, or complaints filed with TRUSTe employees other than those designated by TRUSTe to receive complaints.
What remedies are available to me as a Complainant?
Based upon the facts of a particular complaint, TRUSTe may do any or all of the following:
- Require the Client to either correct or modify personally identifiable information, or change user preferences
- Require the Client to change its privacy statement or privacy practices
- Require the Client to submit to a third-party audit of its privacy practices to ensure both the validity of its privacy statement and that it has implemented the corrective action that TRUSTe required
TRUSTe cannot require a client either to pay monetary damages or to take steps that would require the client to violate legal requirements imposed on it.
How do I file a complaint?
To register a complaint with TRUSTe, you must complete the online Dispute Resolution form. Please do NOT include sensitive personal information, such as credit card numbers, passwords, government-issued identification protected health information or other sensitive information. Dispute Resolution complaints cannot be opened by e-mail or phone. In certain situations, TRUSTe accepts Dispute Resolution complaints about the offline privacy practices of a Client via postal mail or fax–the Client site or application will include instructions in its privacy notice in that case.
After you file your Dispute Resolution complaint on TRUSTe’s website, the TRUSTe Dispute Resolution and Appeal processes are carried out by email. TRUSTe’s system will assign your complaint a unique complaint number and notify you of it. Please be sure to include the complaint number in the subject line of all emails you send to TRUSTe thereafter.
What happens during the Dispute Resolution process?
TRUSTe attempts to mediate and resolve eligible privacy concerns that arise from a consumer’s use of a TRUSTe client’s website or other enrolled services.
Before you can begin the following process, you must first attempt to resolve your problem by addressing your complaint directly with the TRUSTe client and allow them time to respond.
A. You file a complaint with TRUSTe
If you are dissatisfied with the Client’s handling of your complaint after allowing them time to respond, you can file a complaint – the first step in the TRUSTe Dispute Resolution process. TRUSTe will review the information you submitted through the online Dispute Resolution form and determine whether your complaint is eligible for action.
Information you submit as the Complainant must include a description of your interaction with the client about your problem. This information must be sufficiently complete to permit TRUSTe and, if required, the Client to evaluate the complaint adequately.
As a Complainant, you must clarify whether you want TRUSTe to share the specifics of your complaint – including your name – with the Client. If you do not want this information to be shared with the Client, TRUSTe’s ability to rectify the situation may be hindered.
B. TRUSTe determines whether the complaint is eligible
TRUSTe will inform you within 10 business days whether your complaint meets the eligibility requirements, or whether TRUSTe needs further information to make such a determination (See What is an eligible complaint?). If TRUSTe determines that your complaint is
ineligible, you will be emailed a written explanation.
C. TRUSTe collects and examines information on the dispute
TRUSTe will be the sole judge of whether the information you provided as a Complainant is sufficient to open an investigation. TRUSTe may contact you for additional information that would assist us in addressing your complaint. You would have 14 calendar days from our contacting you to provide this additional information. If you do not provide this information, TRUSTe will close the complaint.
NOTE: A Client or Complainant may ask to submit information to TRUSTe with a request that the information not be made available to the other party. Please contact us to request special instructions for submitting such information; your request for instructions must be prominently marked with “Request for Instructions to Submit Confidential Information” and must confirm that the information you seek to submit is not publicly available. TRUSTe will protect confidential information obtained through the Dispute Resolution program in the same way that it protects its own confidential information.
D. The Dispute Resolution process goes forward
- For Dispute Resolution complaints where TRUSTe indicates that it is notifying the Client, TRUSTe will request response from the client within 14 calendar days. TRUSTe will review the nature of the site’s response and update the ticket about next steps or TRUSTe’s determination.
- If TRUSTe considers the Client’s response to be insufficient, it may request additional information from the Client.
- TRUSTe may, in its sole discretion, extend any of the time periods discussed above.
- TRUSTe is not obligated to consider information it receives after any specified deadline or extension of time.
- Once TRUSTe, in its sole judgment, has made a final determination about the complaint, it will update the ticket, copying the
Complainant and, if the Client was copied, also the Client.
- Once TRUSTe sends notice of its determination and indicates that it has closed a Dispute Resolution complaint, the Complainant or the Client have 14 calendar days to file an appeal as discussed below.
E. If Client fails to answer a complaint
If a Client fails to answer a complaint with a timely response, TRUSTe will send the Client a second notice and attempt phone notification. If the issue remains unresolved, TRUSTe may:
- Withdraw or suspend the Client’s certification
- Refer the matter to the appropriate government agency depending on the nature of the complaint; and/or
- Take other action as appropriate
When does TRUSTe close a complaint?
TRUSTe will close a complaint when it has issued its final determination.
How do I appeal the decision on a complaint?
Appeals must be submitted within 14 calendar days of receiving TRUSTe’s e-mail notice that TRUSTe is closing the complaint.
The email address to use for filing an appeal with TRUSTe is [email protected] and must include the complaint number in the subject line of the appeal request.
The party filing the appeal must explain, in a statement not to exceed 1000 words, why TRUSTe’s final determination of the complaint should be overturned. (“Appeal Statement”).
Note: TRUSTe’s determination about whether an issue falls within the scope of its privacy programs is final, and is not subject to appeal via the Appeals Process.
What happens after I file an appeal?
Upon receiving an appeal, TRUSTe’s Compliance Director will review the complaint and determine within 10 business days whether the complaint is eligible to be reopened for further investigation. For example, TRUSTe may reopen an investigation if the consumer reports substantive new information that a resolution a client indicated was applied has ceased having effect.
After TRUSTe’s Compliance Director completes TRUSTe’s review, TRUSTe may direct the other party to respond by e-mail within 10 business days thereafter, explaining in a statement not to exceed 1000 words why TRUSTe’s final determination should be sustained, or supplying responses to specific questions from TRUSTe. The party filing the original appeal will be notified if TRUSTe is seeking information from the other party.
If TRUSTe’s Compliance Director determines that the original complaint disposition was proper according to TRUSTe processes, and introduces no substantive new information that could not have been raised earlier, or finds no other basis for appeal, the Compliance Director will request review by a senior member of the TRUSTe Management Team of the issue appealed, and TRUSTe will respond with its final appeals determination within 10 business days.
