TRUESSEC.EU is a Coordination and Support Action investigating the role of certification and labelling schemes in measuring the trustworthiness properties of ICT products. Within TRUESSEC.EU trustworthiness metrics were investigated and defined from a multidisciplinary legal, ethical, sociological, technical and business perspective. Emphasis was devoted to human rights and explicit individuals desires, when metrics to measure trust for ICT services are defined and assessed.
With this aim, TRUESSEC.EU works and results were sustained by three pillars:
A StakeHolders' Online Platform (SHOP), where associated cluster projects and stakeholders from industry, academia, governments and civil society gathered, participated in debates throughout Europe, were informed, and provided their opinions and feedback on the topics of the project.
A series of Support Analysis and Studies (SUPPA) from multidisciplinary perspectives on issues of trustworthiness certification and assurance, were set up and looked at the situation of trust-enhancing labels, barriers/incentives to industry adoption and consumer acceptance.
A set of Recommendations on European Trust-Enhancing Labels (ETEL) were offered and dealt with: methodological aspects of certification and assurance, a catalogue of criteria for labels and certifications, and regulatory aspects to foster their adoption, plus a strategic agenda.
Who was the project designed for?
The project was designed to inform EU Commission on the required steps to increase trust in ICT products. It did so by connecting and engaging with different stakeholders in various sectors of the digital economy and to leverage their perspective on what are the barriers, the incentives and the needs to develop more trustworthy ICT products. TRUESSEC.EU did not consider only one specific vertical market but worked horizontally across a number of them, however particular interest was devoted to digital health sector, where a number of issues related to privacy and trust of ICT products arise.
Why is it important for society?
TRUESSEC.EU project aims to increase consumer trust in ICT products, having at its core consideration for human rights and working on how to digitally re-instantiate them into ICT products. By understanding and identifying recommendations on how to solve existing tensions between end-users and service providers, TRUESSEC.EU aimed to inform a number of stakeholders, including EU Commission, policy makers and service providers on how more trustworthiness can be embedded into ICT services, for the benefit of individuals and their human rights.