The keys that protect consumers' personal data are the passwords they use for retail sites, and weak passwords can prove disastrous for personal data security. Dashlane ranks the top 100 e-retailers' password policies and reveals some concerns in the first edition of its quarterly Personal Data Security Roundup. The roundup findings suggest that some of the top e-commerce sites in the U.S. fail to implement basic password policies that could adequately protect their users' personal data.
Apple received the highest rating and was the only retailer to receive a perfect score. Amazon, Walmart, Victoria's Secret and Toys "R" Us were among the lowest ranked sites as they all received scores of -35 or below.
The roundup assesses the password policies of the top 100 e-commerce sites in the U.S. by examining 24 different password criteria that Dashlane has identified as important to online security, and awarding or docking points depending upon whether a site meets a criterion or not. Each criterion is given a plus or minus point value, leading to a possible total score between -100 and 100 for each site.
