Companies hold personal information about their customers and employees. Customer information includes data such as names, addresses, purchasing history, and preferences. Employee data can include sensitive information such as performance histories and medical information.
The growth of the Internet means that this kind of information is regularly stored and transmitted across computer networks. Companies have a responsibility to ensure that the information they hold about their customers and employees is protected, stored, transferred, and used in a responsible manner.
Regulation on privacy has been introduced in several countries. The 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive prohibits the transfer of personal information to countries that do not meet European standards on data protection. The Safe Harbor Agreement, developed between the United States and European Union, establishes criteria that enable overseas companies to comply with the objective. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Electronic Commerce Steering Group has recently released a consultation paper on a proposed Privacy Protection Framework.
Privacy and Trust
Customer trust is critical to our business. Our online Privacy Statement
describes how we collect and use customers' personal information. We constantly review our privacy policy to help ensure it offers the best protection for our customers and employees.
Defining and Understanding Privacy
While our online privacy statement describes how we treat private information, we are actively engaging stakeholders to understand their views about collecting, using, and protecting personal and private information. Our objective is not only to meet the legal requirements for managing private information, but also to understand the attitudes and expectations of our stakeholders on privacy and security issues related to our business. By engaging our stakeholders in this way, we can adjust our policies and practices for managing these issues as the environment and expectations change.
