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A Swiss foundation wants to strengthen trust in digitization with its own label. What’s the point?
The organic label on the tomato pack indicates the production standard, while the label on the ready-made pizza tells you exactly what’s in it. With the “Digital Trust Label”, the Swiss Digital Initiative (SDI) foundation wants to achieve both, explains Niniane Paeffgen, Managing Director of the SDI: The label shows whether certain standards are met and provides information on what exactly is behind the offer. This is intended to strengthen trust in digitization.
That will be checked
Organizations applying for the new label must meet 35 requirements, which fall into four categories:
- Security (12 requirements)
Example: Is the encryption of the data up to date? - Privacy (8 requirements)
Example: Is user consent obtained for the use of their data? - Reliability (9 requirements)
Example: Does the provider demonstrate compliance with laws and regulations? - Fairness (6 requirements)
Example: Does the provider provide information on whether they use artificial intelligence?
The catalog was defined by experts from different areas of science, business and consumer protection. Many of the requirements are based on the European Data Protection Regulation, some go beyond it.
The label proves that the provider strives for security or data protection. However, the label cannot guarantee that there are no weak points and that there will never be an incident.
The Swiss Digital Initiative offers the label worldwide.
What does the label bring?
Credit Suisse is one of the first companies to go through the auditing process for the new label. “We decided to have the registration process for the e-banking product CSX certified,” explains André Helfenstein, CEO at Swiss Bank.
He is convinced that the new label will strengthen trust at a crucial moment: when a customer decides for or against the digital offer and has to disclose very sensitive data. And the certification process was valuable for Credit Suisse. You have learned where there are still weak points and what you can do better.
More transparency in artificial intelligence
Many of the verified requirements already exist as law in the European Union, for example in the area of data protection. Others conform to known industry standards. Users in Switzerland can be sure that an internationally active bank will comply with the laws applicable in Europe and take known security standards into account, even without a label.
It becomes interesting where the label goes beyond existing regulations, for example when a provider uses artificial intelligence processes. According to Niniane Paeffgen, many users are not aware that when applying for a job, an algorithm often decides whether a candidate will make it through to the next round. Certified organizations that use the label must make the use of such technologies transparent and give users the opportunity to defend themselves against a machine’s decision.
Fair treatment also means that software does not aim to make users dependent, an accusation that is often made against social media providers. Anyone who wants to use the label must therefore provide information about any addiction risks.