Riding the raging success of its e-commerce services, IBM today
announced consulting services aimed at helping businesses implement
privacy policies, procedures, and technology.
The services will also try to provide insight into how to
build consumer trust in in the far-flung networked world.
IBM's announcement comes at a time of growing concerns over privacy issues
on the Internet. An increasing number of e-commerce sites and portals
collect consumer information and many companies place employee
information on access-restricted sites on the Internet so individuals
can manage some aspects of their human resource needs.
The consulting services will be part of IBM's Global Services division. At the core
of the services is a tool-assisted methodology that shows the steps involved and
the questions that need to be addressed to set up the right privacy
policies and systems.
Analysts said the services will help users identify "hard," costs such as new
systems and upgrades, and "soft" costs--expenses that customers hadn't
considered.
Privacy services are designed to address specific customer requirements and
are based on work with IBM researchers, global service professionals, and
industry experts. IBM plans to implement policies and procedures needed to
protect personal information that is collected and maintained on customers
and employees.
"The growth of electronic commerce depends on trust," said Gary Roboff,
chairman of Banking Industry Technology Secretariat (BITS) Research &
Planning Steering Committee, in a statement. BITS is a organization that
focuses on privacy issues. "These new services can help companies such as
banks build that trust, and show individuals--the customers of our
customers--that they are protected by a thoughtful, comprehensive privacy
program."
IBM's privacy services also help identify the types of information being
gathered and processed, ensuring that consumers get proper notification of how
their personal information will be used.