Trade Association Updates to Eliminate Confusion in the Marketplace

January 12, 2022

i-SIGMA Sunsets NAID and PRISM International Membership Designations and Websites: Certification Programs Unaffected

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Phoenix, Ariz., 13 January 2022 – To remove market confusion between membership and certification, members of the International Secure Information Governance & Management Association^™ (i-SIGMA^®) approved bylaws changes last year limiting the use of “NAID” and “PRISM International” to the association’s certification programs. As a result, members are now to refer to themselves as “i-SIGMA Members.” Only where members have completed the necessary certification audits, including unannounced third-party audits, may they refer to themselves as being NAID AAA Certified and/or PRISM Privacy+ Certified. i-SIGMA has also consolidated from three separate websites to one, where all information can now be found for the association.

“At the end of the day,” i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson said,” it means the “NAID Member” and “PRISM International Member” status and logos are going away. They will no longer be confused as inferring any form of certification. Certified firms may continue to represent themselves as being NAID AAA Certified and/or PRISM Privacy+ Certified; however, those service providers choosing not to be certified will be limited to the use of the i-SIGMA Member logo.”

After the 2018 merger of NAID and PRISM International, which formed i-SIGMA, the association bylaws create a divisional structure that divided member-companies into two constituencies, retaining the historic nomenclature: data destruction (NAID) and records management (PRISM International). Removal of the divisional structure will not affect the continuing availability of NAID AAA Certification or PRISM Privacy+ Certification, and, in fact, will allow all i-SIGMA members to access those programs.

Johnson also added, “With the NAID and PRISM International designations limited to the i-SIGMA Certification Programs, it will retain the strength of those brands without diluting the names with market confusion over companies which are or are not certified. This will create greater clarity in the marketplace and allow all members to still receive the full benefits and backing of their trade association.”

Association members should actively be transitioning any nomenclature and logo usage, since these brands outside of certification will be retired. i-SIGMA continues to be the watchdog trade association for the information governance industry, holding members accountable to a code of ethics monitored under an Ethics Complaint Resolution Counsil.
More information regarding these changes, along with answers to frequently asked questions, can be found on the newly updated i-SIGMA website: www.isigmaonline.org

ABOUT i-SIGMA

The International Secure Information Governance & Management Association® (i-SIGMA®) is the non-profit watchdog organization, enforcing standards and ethical compliance of approximately 2,000 secure destruction and records and information management service providers on six continents. Formed by the merger of the NAID and PRISM International in 2018, the association currently maintains the most rigorous and widely accepted third-party data security vendor compliance certifications in the world. www.isigmaonline.org

Media Contact:
Kelly Martínez
[email protected]
+1 602-788-6243, ext. 2008