The Trust Center: Your Privacy, Security and Compliance Supermarket

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If you're going shopping and only need a couple of items, the local corner shop gets the job done. But when your list includes groceries, medications, cleaning supplies, electronics, and a screwdriver, you’re better off at a supermarket. The same is true with data governance. If privacy and security are all you need, the corner shop approach works. But today, with the explosion of artificial intelligence and the expanding scope of data management, the data governance corner shop has quickly ballooned into a big-box retailer.?

That is why it's more important than ever to have everything under one roof. Enter... The Trust Center! But what should a trust center include? I'm glad you asked, let's dive in.

The purpose. A trust center a place is where you can house all your policies, procedures white papers and articles for areas like privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, compliance, data sharing, cross-border transfers, retention, deletion, and beyond. Trust centers are especially valuable for B2B organizations, where clients and prospects expect a single, accessible location to find all relevant data management materials.

Privacy statement. Start your trust center with a clear privacy statement—a few concise sentences outlining your commitment to responsible data management. Highlight how your organization prioritizes transparency, protects personal information, and complies with privacy laws and regulations. Keep it general, but make sure your audience knows you gave it thought and didn't just copy & paste it from another website. Here's an example of Slack 's privacy statement:

Certifications. Showcase relevant certifications that demonstrate your organization’s commitment to privacy, security, and ethical AI practices. Examples include ISO 27701, SOC 2, Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs), and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF). You may want to allow prospective customers to download a copy of your most recent certification (though some prefer to have an NDA signed first). Take a look at Docusign 's certifications page:

Privacy practices. Summarize your privacy notice at a high level. Highlight key elements like the types of data you process, the purposes of processing, data-sharing practices, and cross-border transfer mechanisms. Include details about how you incorporate Privacy by Design (PbD) principles across the lifecycle of your products and services.

Cybersecurity measures. Emphasize the administrative, technical, and physical controls you have in place to protect customer data. This might include encryption protocols, incident response processes, and regular security audits. You don't necessarily need to share all of your internal policies, as they may contain confidential information. In that case you can create a more high-level, public-facing, summary for the trust center.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance. If AI and machine learning play a role in your products or services, outline your principles and processes for responsible AI use. Include commitments to fairness, transparency, and accountability. If you're wondering how to create great AI terms for your AI product check out this previous Trust is Everything article.

Here's some inspiration for what the AI section might look like from Atlassian 's AI governance page:

Compliance commitments. Explain how your organization complies with major regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Data sharing and cross-boarder transfers. Detail your data-sharing practices, including contractual requirements for subprocessors, and provide a link to a list of your subprocessors. Describe the mechanisms you use for international data transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs), or the Data Privacy Framework (DPF).

Retention and deletion policies. Explain your approach to data retention and deletion. Highlight that personal data is only retained as necessary to achieve its intended purpose, and link to your retention schedule for further transparency. Remember to distinguish between data you process as a data controller and data you process as a data processor (whose retention periods are set by your customer, the data controller).

Resource library. If you have some great written resources - such as your privacy policy, data processing agreement, security white paper and other articles relating to your compliance - the trust center would be a great place to highlight them. Here how TrustArc does it:

And here's how 思科 does it:

Let's say you've decided you want a trust center but don't have the time or budget to create a bespoke webpage. No problem - you don’t need to reinvent the wheel! Several services like SafeBase , Drata and Vanta can help you launch your trust center easily and seamlessly. This very platform - LinkedIn - trust center is built on Safebase:

In today’s complex landscape of data governance, with so many tech solutions and so much competition, you need to stand out. Having a great product simply isn't enough anymore. And simply having a privacy policy (the "corner shop approach") doesn't really cut it either. You need prospective customers to walk away saying "wow, they REALLY take compliance seriously!" A trust center can do just that - demonstrating your organization’s commitment to responsible data management and strengthening your reputation as a trustworthy steward of data.

Wanna take your compliance efforts to the next level in 2025? Talk to us!

This article was coauthored with Noah Katz

#privacy #compliance #gdpr #security #ai #datagovernance #ccpa #trustcenter TrustIZ