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Internet Developers can build privacy tools into web-based communications tools like Facebook

MONCTON - TrustMe Security wants to bring privacy back to an all-to-public Internet.

Whether it's web-based text chats, Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol telephone conversations, e-banking, buying from popular online retailers or sharing thoughts with friends via social networking sites, Moncton-based TrustMe is hoping programmers will incorporate its technology into their software and websites.

"We've embraced the Internet as part of the fabric of our society, we use it every day ... my kids for example, Facebook is just a daily thing for them," says TrustMe's co-chief executive officer, Elizabeth Rybak.

But while individuals and businesses have been embracing Internet-based communications technology at an ever-increasing rate, tools to keep personal and confidential information private haven't kept pace, said Rybak.

"As consumers, as users ... we really don't have a lot of control over who accesses our personal information," she said.

"It's kind of like you have a house and your doors and windows are wide open, and marketing companies can come in and poke through your drawers and find out what kind of labels you're buying, they can find out who you are communicating with, where you go shopping ... what's in your trash."

The popular social networking site Facebook.com raised the ire of users and privacy experts last fall with its controversial Beacon advertising system.

Beacon sent data from external websites, such as online retailers, to Facebook. The information allowed for targeted advertisement of products and services to users and it allowed people to share their recent activities and purchases with others they communicate with via the social networking site.

After intense criticism, Beacon was changed to require user approval before any actions would be shared with others and by December Facebook allowed users to opt-out of Beacon.

TrustMe, said Rybak, wants to provide what she described as "an accessible trust platform" that developers can use to build robust privacy tools into web-based communications tools like Facebook.

Using the same technology it developed to ensure e-mail privacy, TrustMe has built a set of tools known as an application programming interface or API, which will allow software developers to incorporate TrustMe privacy tools into their websites.

The API allows the developers to incorporate TrustMe technology into their software and to use TrustMe servers to verify whether individuals or websites have permission to access a user's personal information.

"It gives the power of controlling privacy back to the users," she said.

TrustMe hopes to earn revenue from developers who incorporate its technology into their software by charging companies usage fees based the number of times their websites or software access TrustMe servers to verify relationships.

"In order for applications built using the Internet to evolve, users need to have control over their privacy. Our trust platform not only can help users protect their privacy, it could also help users preserve their reputation on the Internet," said Rybak. "Preserving and protecting our online reputation is as important as protecting our face-to-face reputation?"