The Online Trust Alliance provides independent research and benchmark reporting on Internet security and privacy, delivering uniquely comprehensive insight and practical recommendations for organizations of all sizes.
Note: The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) is no longer an active project. The publications are preserved for historical purposes but is no longer being updated.
OTA tracked the progress and adoption of best practices, while highlighting early adopters and “North Stars”. In 2009, OTA launched the Online Trust Audit and Honor Roll, which is a comprehensive evaluation of a site’s best practices in brand and consumer protection, security, and privacy. Through a composite weighted scoring including over two dozen data points, sites that achieve a score of 80% or greater are named to the Honor Roll.
The 2019 Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll will represent the 11th independent analysis and benchmark report of the adoption...
The Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll assesses nearly 1,200 organizations, recognizing excellence in online consumer protection, data security, and responsible privacy...
The 2017 Online Trust Audit is the 9th year OTA will be conducting an independent analysis and benchmark report...
The primary goal of the Audit and report is to help drive the adoption of best practices and provide...
The 2015 Online Trust Audit includes a composite analysis focusing on three major categories; a company’s data protection, security...
The 2014 Online Trust Audit includes a composite analysis focusing on three major categories; a company’s data protection, security...
OTA promoted security standards, responsible privacy practices, and related tools to help organizations protect their data and protect users. Our work helped organizations of all sizes in both the public and private sector to better understand the issues and solutions that can enhance their data protection practices and enable them to develop readiness plans in the event they incur a data loss incident.
This year’s report includes ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, connected device vulnerability, and more.
This year marks the Online Trust Alliance’s tenth annual publication related to cyber incidents and breach readiness. Now an...
The cyber threat landscape has changed dramatically over the past twelve months, with the definition of incidents expanding significantly...
The threat level has never been higher for any organization. As recent headlines attest, no company, organization or government...
Breaches and data loss incidents have become a fact of life for organizations of every size and throughout the...
OTA recognized the critical role email plays in commerce and society. OTA drove multi-stakeholder efforts to identify and advance best practices to help bolster the integrity of the email marketing channel. OTA published a set of recommendations that include the adoption of standards-based email authentication technologies, benchmark reports, unsubscribe audits, and related best practices to curb email abuse, while enhancing the security, privacy, and integrity of email.
The 2018 Email Marketing & Unsubscribe Audit found that the vast majority of audited online retailers have embraced unsubscribe...
The 2017 Audit found that the vast majority of audited online retailers have embraced unsubscribe best practices, going beyond...
The 2016 Audit found that the vast majority of top online retailers have embraced unsubscribe best practices that go...
OTA’s research and unsub test criteria revealed that 98% (versus only 90% in 2014) of the top e-commerce brands...
Email is a vibrant channel for marketers to connect with consumers on many fronts providing an important value exchange...
Based on 1,200 privacy statements, many are not prepared for coming regulations.
46% of IRS Free e-file Sites Receive Failing Grades
The report evaluates the privacy, security and consumer protection practices of the top presidential candidates’ websites.
Best Practices to Enhance Trust & Fight Malicious & Deceptive Email
Given increased concerns about security and privacy in the political realm and the continuing drumbeat of high-profile data breaches,...