Expedia.com Rolls Out New Privacy Policy and Becomes the First Online Travel Service to Successfully Complete a PricewaterhouseCoopers Privacy Policy Audit
Revamped Privacy Policy Gives Customers Complete Control Over Personal
Information
BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia.com(R) ( expedia.com ), the award-winning travel service, today announced a new privacy policy that gives customers complete control over the use of the personal information they share with Expedia.com. To support the new policy, Expedia(R) also announced the successful completion of a privacy audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The audit subjected Expedia.com to a series of rigorous inspections that verify Expedia's compliance with its written privacy policy. Expedia.com, the top e-commerce website to receive independent verification that it adheres to its information privacy policy by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The new privacy policy, available at expedia.com , explains in plain English that "Expedia.com does not sell or rent your PII (personally identifiable information) to anyone" and that "Expedia.com provides you with choice and control over the collection and use of your PII, as well as a means of updating, correcting, or removing any PII stored in your customer profile."
"While Expedia has long shown a commitment to customer confidentiality and security, we realized that we could do more to clarify, strengthen and support our policy," said Richard Barton, president and CEO of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) "In particular, we recognized that just enhancing disclosures about our information privacy practices wasn't enough. We want people to know that our policy truly represents our actions. To that end, we developed and implemented a comprehensive privacy statement and engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers, the leading provider of privacy services, to come in- house and provide assurance that we're living by the language we post in our privacy policy."
"When we do a privacy audit, we go deep into how a company handles customer information. We interview employees and customer service representatives, examine customer information databases, and in general assess the adherence of a company to the privacy policy they have or that they are planning to post," said Larry Ponemon, partner and global leader of privacy and compliance risk management at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Expedia.com's new privacy policy is exemplary among web sites in its protection and respect for travelers' personal information. Therefore, we attest to the fact that Expedia.com lives up to that exemplary statement."
This new privacy policy and independent verification follow a previous privacy first in online travel when, in January 2000, Expedia removed registration from the front page of the site -- allowing travelers to shop for airfare, car rentals, and hotel availability without having to share any personal information or register with Expedia.
The New Privacy Policy and Overall Privacy Efforts
Now linked from all of the web pages throughout Expedia.com, the new privacy policy was re-written from the ground up with customers in mind. It has become more specific to the Expedia.com travel service and more explicit in the protection and control customers have for their personally identifiable information. The policy explicitly states what information is collected, how that information is used to provide travel services, that the information will not be rented or sold, and that customers can edit, add, or remove any and all of the information they have stored with Expedia. It also states that Expedia will always treat a customer's information according to the privacy policy that is in place when a customer first shares personal information with Expedia.com. Existing Expedia customers are now automatically protected by the new privacy policy terms.
"As a full service travel agency, customers provide personal information to us. In addition to being necessary for making travel arrangements, customer information enables Expedia to provide a tremendous amount of added value through personalization," emphasized Tony Gonchar, customer relationship management director and privacy coordinator at Expedia.com. "Thus, it is critical that customers be comfortable with providing their information to us without any concerns about unauthorized use of that information."
For example, by voluntarily providing Expedia.com with incremental personal information, customers are able to receive a weekly email with the fares of their three favorite flight routes through Expedia's Fare Tracker email; they can have their frequent traveler numbers automatically entered during booking; they can enable express booking to purchase a flight within three clicks of the home page and only have to enter the last four digits of their credit card number; and they can occasionally receive travel offers tailored to their travel preferences. "The PricewaterhouseCoopers privacy audit attests to Expedia's statement that customers are in the driver's seat with the information they provide Expedia.com. Customers can add, edit, or remove any and all of their account information at any time," continued Gonchar.
The Auditing Process
PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted its audit by mapping information data flows, interviewing employees and service providers about how they handle customer data, examining the physical and logical security over systems where information maintained about Expedia.com customers is stored, and in general assessing the overall compliance and monitoring infrastructure to ensure that Expedia will not breach its disclosures about information privacy practices described in their privacy policy. PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's leading professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of 150,000 people in 150 countries, the firm helps clients solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the US firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and other members of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organization.
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. operates Expedia.com, a leading online Web site in the United States with localized versions for travelers in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. To help customers travel right, Expedia.com provides the best combination of air, car and hotel booking, vacation package and cruise offers, destination information, and point-to-point mapping. Industry experts agree -- Expedia's quality and leadership was recognized through several awards, including PC Magazine's Editors' Choice, Yahoo! Internet Life's "Best Overall Travel Site," Gomez Advisors' "Number One Travel Site for Summer 2000," and PC World's 2000 World Class Award for Best Travel Site.
Expedia.com customers are supported by a credit card guarantee (U.S. site only), an industry-leading privacy policy, and live agents via e-mail and an 800-number available 24 hours a day/seven days a week. Expedia.com is also available under Travel on the MSN(R) network of Internet services.
NOTE: Expedia, Expedia.com, and the Airplane logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S., Canada, and/or other countries.
Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Other products and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Expedia, Inc.
CO: Expedia, Inc.; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
ST: Washington
IN: MLM LEI
SU: |
