The Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI) was established to promote ethical, transparent, and responsible practices in web data collection and related services. As an industry initiative, we believe it is important to speak when public discussions raise broader questions about trust, transparency, consent, and accountability in the residential proxy ecosystem.
Legitimate web data collection, bandwidth-sharing, and residential proxy services serve many lawful and beneficial purposes. These services play a key role in cybersecurity research, fraud prevention, brand protection, market intelligence, academic research, and the operation of many online services relied upon by businesses and individuals worldwide.
Recent public reports concerning participants in the residential proxy ecosystem have sparked discussion about industry practices and standards. While EWDCI is not commenting on any specific company or ongoing investigation, these discussions underscore the importance of maintaining clear ethical standards and fostering public trust.
EWDCI believes allegations involving compromised devices, inadequate disclosure, deceptive enrollment practices, or the misuse of consumer resources should be taken seriously and carefully examined by the appropriate authorities.
The distinction between ethical and unethical practices is important. EWDCI’s members are committed to principles of transparency, informed user consent, clear disclosure, accountability, and respect for users. Those principles exist precisely to help distinguish responsible industry participants from conduct that may undermine trust in the broader ecosystem.
As discussion of these issues continues, EWDCI will remain focused on advancing best practices and promoting a web data collection industry that operates responsibly, ethically, and in a manner that earns the trust of users, regulators, and the public.
About EWDCI + i2Coalition
The Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI) seeks to foster cooperation in the web data collection and aggregation industry and leverage collective first-hand knowledge and insights to advocate for beneficial technical standards and business best practices regarding the aggregation of data. The EWDCI is dedicated to serving as the voice of the industry, collaboratively strengthening public trust in the practice of data aggregation, promoting ethical guidelines, and helping businesses make informed data aggregation choices.
The Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition) is the leading voice for web hosting companies, data centers, domain registrars and registries, cloud infrastructure providers, managed services providers, and related tech. The i2C works with Internet infrastructure providers to advocate for sensible policies, design and reinforce best practices, help create industry standards, and build awareness of how the Internet works. The i2Coalition also spearheaded the creation of the VPN Trust Initiative, which determined and promoted best practices for that vital industry.
[Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash]
