Gigya Launches SocialPrivacy Certification

Dec 18, 2012 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Gigya, a provider of social infrastructure for business, announced the launch of SocialPrivacy Certification.

According to a release, the certification will enable businesses to verify that they follow approved social network guidelines and industry best practices for managing consumer social data. Businesses can become certified after an audit by Gigya to determine that they partake in fair social data marketing practices.

In particular, they must follow four principles in order to gain SocialPrivacy Certification: 1) they will not sell user social data, 2) they will not post to social feeds without explicit permissions, 3) they will not engage in social data-based email marketing campaigns without user permissions, and 4) they will not send private messages to friends without permission.

Once businesses are certified, they can display the Gigya SocialPrivacy Certification Seal in the login flow on their websites to transparently inform users how their social data will be used.

The Future of Privacy Forum collaborated with Gigya to create the specific requirements for SocialPrivacy Certification.

FPF Director Jules Polonetsky will serve as chairman of the Gigya Privacy and Safety Advisory Board.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Lush Cosmetics, Finish Line, and The Globe and Mail are Gigya SocialPrivacy Certification launch partners, and will be implementing the SocialPrivacy Certification Seal in the coming months.

Gigya also announced a survey, conducted by SurveyMonkey, that found: -More than half of consumers have logged into an application or website using social login.

-Of consumers who have opted not to use social login, 40 percent say it is because they do not know what will happen to their personal information, and 41 percent say they are unsure if the site or application would post or share without asking for permission.

-49 percent of consumers said that they would be more comfortable using social login if presented with a message informing them what information is being collected by the website.

-Similarly, 37 percent of consumers indicated that they would be more comfortable using social login if presented with a badge or seal from an independent organization that promises that the website or mobile app will follow the social network's privacy restrictions for how it uses their information on a site.

"As sites look to leverage permission-based social data to power their marketing efforts, they must ensure that they follow the strict guidelines outlined by the social networks and other social data collection best practices," said Polonetsky. "Gigya has taken a critical step in ensuring that businesses abide by these guidelines and, in doing so, is helping create a safer, more transparent web for businesses and consumers." "Consumers clearly prefer to use social login in many settings because it allows them to login quickly and securely without creating new credentials," said Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya. "Yet we've also seen that those users want transparency around how their information is being collected and used. With SocialPrivacy Certification, we are bridging the gap by letting consumers know which sites have proved that their data is being used responsibly." ((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

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