Ernst & Young has announced that it will offer its clients the option of reporting on a website's compliance with key requirements of the BBBOnLine privacy program. BBBOnLine is a program of the Better Business Bureau system.

The new service will be offered to clients for whom E&Y is engaged to perform recurring attestation services under the American Institute of CPAs' WebTrust program for online privacy.

Essentially, E&Y will issue a report of findings to its clients for use in determining whether a business meets certain BBBOnLine privacy program eligibility requirements. Once accepted by BBBOnLine, the company will be able to display the consumer-friendly BBBOnLine privacy program trustmark on their websites.

BBBOnLine and E&Y will also cooperate on joint educational initiatives and materials to help companies meet and prove compliance with generally accepted privacy standards.

"In working with BBBOnLine," explained Jerry DeVault, who leads Ernst & Young's innovative assurance solutions group, "we want to help harmonize the sets of generally accepted privacy principles, share those principles broadly throughout the business and professional communities and better educate consumers and businesses about the kinds of assurance provided by privacy programs. We believe these efforts will enhance consumer confidence in the e-commerce marketplace."

-Rosemary Schlank