IBM Introduces Services to Protect Consumer Privacy
Helping Companies Build Trust in E-Commerce
Somers, N.Y. (October 22, 1998) – business services, IBM Global Services. “Knowing the right way to collect, manage and protect the privacy of this data isbecoming increasingly important for all businesses — large and small. There are very specific things businesses will need to know about how to protect the privacy of the personal data they collect and steps they will have to take to comply with a variety of industry and government guidelines. IBM’s privacy consulting service is designed to help them create and enable effective, proactive strategies that address these and other privacy-related issues.”
Specifically, the new service will help businesses identify their privacy strengths and weaknesses and assist them in creating, assessing and monitoring their information privacy policies and procedures. IBM and PCG will also help businesses comply with a variety of privacy regulations and guidelines, such as the European Union (EU) Directive on Data Protection that takes effect on October 24. The directive requires EU member states to adopt and enforce uniform privacy laws and could prohibit them from transferring data — as common place as names and addresses — outside the EU unless some very specific requirements are met.
The combination of IBM and the Privacy Consulting group, led by leading privacy authority, Dr. Alan Westin with prominent Washington attorney Robert Belair, combines PCG’s three decades of experience and leadership in privacy advocacy with IBM Global Services’ expertise and extensive consulting resources.
Professor Westin, who has been the academic advisor to more than 30 national public opinion surveys on privacy, commented, “American consumers today expect companies to provide them with highly personalized services and products. But consumers also want companies to tell them how their personal information will be used, and let them make choices about that. Companies that foster both personalization and consumer-choice will be the winners in the new information marketplaces, especially in e-commerce,” said Westin.
The new service, which will focus first on United States-based organizations, will be delivered as part of IBM’s broad range of e-business security services, which help companies worldwide build and maintain secureinformation systems.
“Our focus on secure information managementcoupled with a commitment to privacy can lead to stronger, more beneficial relationships between companies and their employees and customers,” said J.C. (Cal) Slemp III, global offering executive – security, IBM Global Services. “We believe security is an essential foundation for privacy, which in turn, enables a level of trust that will help move e-commerce forward.
With 1997 revenue of about $26 billion, IBM Global Services is the world’s largest information technology services company. IBM’s fastest-growing business segment has an unsurpassed breadth of capabilities, and 118,000 professionals helping companies of all sizes solve real business problems and create new business opportunities. For more information on IBM Global Services, visit http://www.ibm.com/services on the World Wide Web.
Source: IBM