Intelius Leads in Development of Consumer-Focused Internet Marketing Standards Working Group

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelius, a leading internet information commerce retailer, today announced that they are joining, as a founding member, an independent working group, led by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), to develop best practices for internet retailers when offering additional subscription products and services.  The new working group will convene industry leaders and consumer advocates to establish a set of guidelines for such offers.  Intelius has committed $250,000 to the working group.

"Intelius is dedicated to providing the best shopping experience for our customers," said Jim Adler, Chief Privacy Officer of Intelius.  "Currently, there are no uniform, national guidelines on how retailers should present additional offers to consumers during their online check-out process.  This group will set clear guidelines that balance consumer protection and industry responsibility, filling the void that now exists so consumers can be better served."

Internet commerce is relatively young and standards are still emerging.  Through this working group, industry and consumer advocacy groups will come together to create common sense guidelines for online marketing to consumers.

"Consumer advocates, retailers, consumers and regulators can all benefit from uniform standards for marketing on the internet," said Ari Schwartz, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of CDT.  "One of the challenges that must be addressed is how to clearly define standards for purchases made from third-party advertisers that the consumer has had no previous relationship and may never even have heard of before.  This working group will be a place to address consumer concerns and provide clear guidelines to the industry. We are pleased that Intelius has taken a leading role in developing this important initiative."

Additional members are encouraged to join this working group.  For more information, or to join the working group, please contact either Ari Schwartz or Justin Brookman at CDT (at [email protected] or [email protected]).

ABOUT INTELIUS

Intelius is a leading information commerce company providing businesses and consumers with information to empower the decision-making process for peace of mind and security. To date, Intelius has gained more than eight million unique customers who use Intelius' information to reconnect and protect their loved ones, businesses and assets. Intelius' services include background checks, people search services, comprehensive employment screening services and an award-winning identity theft prevention product, IDProtect™ and the award-winning DateCheck™ mobile application. Intelius is one of the top 100 most trafficked sites on the Internet, according to comScore/Media Metrix.  For more about Intelius screening products and services, visit www.talentwise.com.  For more about Intelius' business, news and policies, visit www.intelius.com/corp.

ABOUT CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY & TECHNOLOGY

The Center for Democracy and Technology (www.cdt.org) is a non-profit public interest organization working to keep the Internet open, innovative, and free.  With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in communications technologies.  CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.

SOURCE Intelius