Howard Deane, a member and director of the Consumers Council of Canada, has been elected as Convener of ISO’s international Working Group on Consumer Online Reviews. This Working Group was created within the framework of work on ISO/TC 290, an ISO Technical Committee on Online Reputation. Deane is a member of the Canadian Mirror Committee for ISO/TC 290, and recently headed the Canadian delegation at the international kickoff meeting.

The Working Group will develop draft ISO’s standards/guidelines on the “collection, moderation & display” of consumer online reviews, a particularly key area given consumers’ significant reliance on online reviews, and the increasing concern over false and misleading reviews.