Controversies and Challenges of Trustmarks: Lessons for Privacy and Data Protection Seals.

While trustmarks have already existed for many years, until now very few have managed to successfully establish themselves on the market in terms of consumer trust and adoption by online businesses. This chapter will deal with the challenges and controversies related to trustmarks and will highlight some significant lessons learned from the experience with trustmarks. Based on this, it will identify key factors that can contribute to the success of privacy and data protection seals in the years to come. The chapter will combine theoretical knowledge with empirical observations to establish a reliable yardstick to measure the effectiveness and impact of trustmarks and, finally, will identify the legal challenges that need to be overcome for trustmarks to gain and maintain relevance in the fast-paced world of e-commerce.keywordsdata protection sealstrustmarkskitemarkonline trustprivacye-commerce.