Trustmark (commerce)

A trustmark is an image, logo, or badge that is typically displayed on an E-commerce website, indicating that the site has passed certain digital security tests or is operated by a member of a professional organization. The trustmark is intended to show approval of the brand by a recognizable third party. Customers gain confidence and may be more inclined to transact business with a brand bearing a trustmark.{{cite web |url=https://www.webopedia.com/definitions/e-commerce-trustmark/ |title=E-Commerce Trustmark |last=Beal |first=Vangie |date=August 7, 2009 |publication-date=May 24, 2021 |website=Webopedia |publisher=TechnologyAdvice |access-date=January 25, 2022 |quote=...it can give customers confidence and can encourage them to do business with you.}}{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Frauke |last2=Tuzovic |first2=Sven |date=March 2019 |title=Trustmarks: Strategies for exploiting their full potential in e-commerce |url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123600/1/123600.pdf |journal=Business Horizons |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=237–247 |doi=10.1016/j.bushor.2018.09.004 |s2cid=158201837 |access-date=January 25, 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Rosner |first1=Giliad L. |title=Trustmarks in the Identity Ecosystem: Definitions, Use, and Governance |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3054056 |publisher=Open Identity Exchange |access-date=17 February 2025 |date=1 September 2014}}

One of the oldest familiar trustmarks, the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, was established in 1909 as a way for the magazine's Research Institute to endorse specific products backed by a two-year warranty.{{cite news | first = Walter | last = Nicholls | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010100642_pf.html | title = Surviving the Test of Time: At Good Housekeeping, A Modern Makeover And Old-Fashioned Appeal | date = January 2, 2008 | newspaper = Washington Post}} In the modern era, digital trustmarks can be a machine-readable authentication feature within an identity trust framework.{{cite web |last1=Temoshok |first1=David |last2=Abruzzi |first2=Christine |title=Developing trust frameworks to support identity federations |url=https://csrc.nist.rip/library/NIST%20IR%208149.pdf |publisher=US Department of Commerce |access-date=17 February 2025 |page=21 |doi=10.6028/NIST.IR.8149 |date=11 January 2018}}

In the United Kingdom since 2006, there is a non-profit entity called TrustMark that under a master agreement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy{{cite web |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210099/bis-13-955-construction-2025-industrial-strategy.pdf |title=Industrial Strategy: government and industry in partnership (Construction 2025) |author= |date=July 2013 |website=HM Government |publisher=UK Crown |access-date=January 25, 2022 |quote=One existing scheme in the UK that displays many of these features is TrustMark, which is licensed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to operate to Government endorsed standards.}} licenses and audits businesses that register to carry out work inside and near residential homes. In Canada, there has been a trustmark issued by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (now Imagine Canada) to identify charities that meet standards of ethics and accountability.{{cite news |author= |date=March 7, 2004 |title=Trustmark approved |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/498262703/ |work=Regina Sun |location=Regina, Saskatchewan |access-date=January 25, 2022}} In 2018, Mozilla and a consortium including the New York University School of Law backed a product packaging trustmark called Trustable Technology.{{cite news |last=Bray |first=Hiawatha |date=December 14, 2018 |title=Mozilla, consortium of groups look to back voluntary trustmark system for gadgets |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/512939300 |work=The Boston Globe |location=Boston, Massachusetts |access-date=January 25, 2022}} TRUSTe (now TrustArc) is another specialist in trustmark review services.{{cite news |last=Deveau |first=Denise |date=May 10, 2010 |title=Secure business |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/514475375/ |work=National Post |location=Toronto, Ontario |access-date=January 25, 2022}}