2000 online Merchants Help Launch the Internet's Largest Self-regulatory Online Privacy Program.

Consumer service announces the most successful campaign to-date to promote fair privacy practices on-line.

Los Angeles, CA. January 25, 1999 Public Eye the largest aggregator of customer satisfaction data on small and medium sized Internet companies, announced today that it has officially launched its consumer privacy practices program, and that over 2000 of its members have already subscribed. The program is aimed at giving e-consumers more control over how their personal information is used. The Program also gives Internet merchants a way to reduce consumer anxiety about submitting personal information online. Building on Public Eye's established network of certified merchants, the program now requires its members to declare their privacy policy. Once declared, their "privacy statement" is automatically published and available to online consumers. The company's actual "Privacy Practices" are monitored by continually surveying the experiences of the merchant's customers who file reports. Any Patron of a Public Eye certified company can access the merchant's file to report their experiences with the merchant's privacy practices. All consumers may view a Public Eye member's file to view the merchants privacy statement and privacy track record before executing a transaction.

"Our goal was to accelerate implementation of good privacy practices, by removing many of the barriers to participation. For merchants, the program is easy to join, creation and publication of a basic "privacy statement" is easy to achieve, and participation is free. For consumers, determining how member merchants use their personal information is quick, easy and user friendly. Reporting a breach of privacy can be completed in less than two minutes. As a result, Public Eye's Privacy Practices Program has emerged overnight as the largest and most efficient self regulating program on the Internet today," said Errol Smith managing partner of Public Eye. "Moreover, the program is truly self regulating. Though privacy statement creation, publishing and monitoring are facilitated by Public Eye, compliance, assessment and resolution are completely in the hands of merchants and their patrons. The key is the giant spot light created by Public Eye's monitoring and reporting system. It creates a compelling incentive for members to make sure that their privacy practices live up to their privacy promises. No other program on the Internet offers anything like it." said Smith.

The program was designed to be consistent with the principles of fair information practices approved by the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. department of Commerce, and leading industry organizations. Care was taken to balance the concerns of consumers, merchants, government officials and industry leaders. "The goal is not to displace the other privacy programs on the Internet but to serve as a catalyst to jump start the fledgling privacy practices movement, and to hopefully serve as a conduit to steer merchants toward more comprehensive privacy programs," says Smith.

Consistent with this goal Public Eye has teamed with TrustE to help merchants and consumers better understand privacy issues and to provide merchants with a tool for developing a more comprehensive privacy program. To help educate merchants as well as consumers, links to key privacy issue sources, and a brief explanation of privacy policies are published on the Public Eye site.

Public Eye has also incorporated its privacy program into its registration process. All new registrants will be asked to declare their privacy policy, which will ultimately be monitored and rated by consumers. Based on current registration rates expects to have 20,000 merchants involved in the privacy program by years end.