A little while ago we joined the Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative. Today, I’m glad to announce that we have earned the EWDCI Trust Seal, the certification awarded to web data companies that meet the initiative's standards for legality, ethics, ecosystem engagement, and social responsibility.
What the Process Looked Like
Getting the seal meant a formal review of our practices against the EWDCI Core Principles, covering transparency, data handling, privacy safeguards, and accountability.
That external check is the part that matters most to me. We've written plenty about how we govern the use of our network, but there's a difference between saying it ourselves and having an independent body look at how we actually operate and confirm it holds up.
What Was Reviewed
The review covered the four EWDCI pillars:
- Legality: operating within the laws of the jurisdictions we touch, and keeping up as those rules change.
- Ethics: how we source our network and how we work with customers
- Ecosystem Engagement: how we interact with the websites, users, and infrastructure our traffic touches.
- Social Responsibility: working with civil society and governmental organizations toward a healthier web.
Building on What Was Already There
The EWDCI Trust Seal and membership don’t sit alone. It comes off the back of our Internet Watch Foundation membership, Made in Britain certification, and wider compliance policies we're actively tightening, from stricter KYC checks at onboarding to the same hard line we've always taken on AUP breaches. The Trust Seal adds independent verification on top of commitments we'd already made.
Why It Matters to You
If you're building on Byteful, this is one more thing you don't have to take our word for. As AI systems and agents rely more heavily on web data every year, we think this kind of independent accountability will only become more important, for us and for the industry.
If you want to know more about our sourcing or our policies, email us at [email protected].
