BeenVerified.com “User Bill of Rights”- First Draft

November 30, 2007 – 12:32 pm by Josh

Many of you know how we can often go off on countless tangents about privacy, security, and the right for the user to decide the who, what, when, where, and why information about them will be shown online. While it is easy for us to communicate to people we meet how important those things are and what BeenVerified is meant for, it is often not so easy for us to do on a website where we cannot speak face to face with our users.

The BeenVerified “User Bill of Rights” is something that we have been working on for a while and that we feel is very important for us to be able to communicate with our users who we are and what are our intentions. While we are the ones building the tools that enable people to prove they are telling the truth about their identity and credentials, the user is the central focus of our service and as such THEY are the owners of their data.

We have incorporated all of the rights laid out in the Users Bill of Rights for the Open Social Web. However, as we are not a social network, and more of a place to keep verified data about yourself for use on those social networks, blogs, online communities, etc. we felt compelled to follow some more intense and specific guidelines. BeenVerified was built with the concept of being for the user, and while the Open Social Web’s “Rights” does a nice job of laying a framework, we felt it necessary to describe our thoughts, ideas, and policies even further. Also, while the core concepts will never change, this is a working draft and something that users and members of the community will have input in as well. The link for the draft can be found here and the first draft is as follows:

BeenVerified.com User Bill of Rights

We, BeenVerified, strive to focus on breaking down the silos and walled gardens of the Internet and continue building tools that give Internet users control of their online identity and private information. The user shall always be the owner of their personal information. BeenVerified is simply a place to securely store and distribute verified data to be used where, when, and how a user chooses. For those reasons:

The user is the sole OWNER of their personal information

The user shall ALWAYS be in control of their personal information. Who is allowed to see it, what specific pieces of information are shown, and what websites or services have access to it will be authorized at the sole discretion of the user.

Every aspect of the BeenVerified service shall be VOLUNTARY and we will only verify credentials specifically requested by the user.

We will NEVER rent, sell, trade or give away any user information without the user’s express permission.
- The full privacy policy can be seen here.

BeenVerified proudly supports and uses OPEN protocols and OPENSOURCE software that help advance ownership and control of user information on the social graph and throughout the web
- Examples include OpenID, OAuth, Linux, Ruby on Rails, and other standards in development.

Furthermore, we promise to adhere to the “User’s Bill of Rights” as set forth by OpenSocialWeb.org which asserts “that all users of the social web are entitled to certain fundamental rights, specifically:”

Ownership of their own personal information, including:
- their own profile data
- the list of people they are connected to
- the activity stream of content they create;
Control of whether and how such personal information is shared with others; and
Freedom to grant persistent access to their personal information to trusted external sites.

About BeenVerified.com

We, the co-founders, are staunch supporters of online anonymity. Its contributions to the advancement of free speech are irreplaceable. Additionally, we recognize that BeenVerified is not meant for everyone nor do we intend for it to be. However, we believe that there is a certain segment of the online community (freelancers, job seekers, bloggers, and other online professionals) that can become more successful simply from being able to prove they are who they say they are. There are millions of people who have worked hard to get where they are. Why should they not have access to an easy tool that allows them to assert and prove their qualifications when applying for a job, making a blog comment, sending marketing material, emailing a client or doing 100’s of other business related tasks?

We designed BeenVerified to live within the websites, networks, email programs and communities that you already operate on and to help enhance your already existing online presence. We are not a social network, rating system, content aggregator or job site. There are thousands of websites providing those services and we feel its best for us to stick to what we can do best. Mainly, deliver trusted third-party verified information about yourself to help you add credibility to your online presence.

From the beginning, we have sought out the most well respected leaders in the fields of security and technology to help implement our service. BeenVerified is proud to be working with the following Partners to ensure all data and information is safe and secure at all times.

For more information about BeenVerified, our process, and general information visit our FAQ, check out our Blog, or feel free to Contact Us with any questions or comments!

Thanks,

Josh Levy, CEO

Ross Cohen, COO

Jason Amster, CTO