A new Trustmark for Maltese websites-GRTU meets MCA

GRTU has this week met the Malta Communication Authority (MCA) to discuss the New Trustmark. GRTU was represented by Council member and IT section President Marcel Mizzi.

During the meeting the MCA gave some background on the old Trustmark system. They said the Trustmark used to be in line with the Euro Label which was already in itself no longer effective so they went to cabinet to trash the euro label and revamp it into a new label for Maltese websites. The old Trustmark had to be reviewed in 2008, which review took place in 2010. The MCA also explained that the involvement of the other entities and authorities was very limited, in fact it will be limited only to market the website.

The MCA said that it would very much like to cooperate with the GRTU and market this new initiative through its membership base. On behalf of GRTU Marcel Mizzi said that website owners are having problems with PayPal as there is an issue of trust. Mr Mizzi suggested that the Trustmark should give same kind of recognition and weight. In addition to this he suggested that the Trustmark should be available not only for commercial websites but also for information websites. The MCA took up Mr Mizzi's suggestions and will take action accordingly.

The MCA is currently in the process of finalizing the documents for the Trustmark criteria and they will launch them trough an event. The MCA stated that it had already used to check websites through the Commerce Act being Regulators.

Mr Mizzi further suggested that the Trustmark should be tiered and for instance in the next tier there should be included features such as accessibility for people with disability through FETA. The GRTU stated that it would like to review the criteria with the MCA at this stage.

The MCA said that there would be a nominal fee for the companies wanting to have acquire the Trustmark. The MCA said that in return all those who have acquired the Trustmark would be listed on their website and marketed as part of a bigger consumer campaign as Trustmark users.

The GRTU will also be collaborating with the MCA to hold a seminar for website developers which would be aimed to push the Trustmark forward.