Prentice Hall, 2000Chapter 10 Public Policy: From Legal Issues to Privacy1 Prentice Hall, 2000Learning ObjectiveszList and describe the major legal issues related to electronic commercezUnderstand the difficulties of protecting privacy and describe the measures taken by companies and individuals to protect itzDescribe the intellectual property issues in EC and the measures provided for its protectionzDescribe some of the ethical issues in EC and the measures taken by organizations to improve ethics2 Prentice Hall, 2000Learning Objectives (cont.)zUnderstand the conflict between Internet indecency and free speech, and the attempts to resolve the conflict zDescribe the issues involved in imposing sales tax on the InternetzDiscuss the controls over exporting encryption software and the issues of government policieszDifferentiate between contracts online and offlinezDescribe the measures available to protect buyers and sellers on the Internet 3 Prentice Hall, 2000Legal and Ethical Issues: an OverviewzPrivacy zIntellectual Property yDifficult to protect since it is easy and inexpensive to copy and disseminate digitized information zFree Speech yInternet provides the largest opportunity for free speech zTaxation yIllegal to impose new sales taxes on Internet business at the present time zConsumer Protection yMany legal issues are related to electronic trade4 Prentice Hall, 2000Ethical IssueszWhat is considered to be right and wrong?zWhat is unethical is not necessarily illegal.zWhether these actions are considered unethical depends on the organization, country, and the specific circumstances surrounding the scenarios.5 Prentice Hall, 2000Ethical Issues (cont.)zCode of Ethics yMany companies and professional organizations develop their own codes of ethics yA collection of principles intended as a guide for its members yA guide for members of a company or an association6 Prentice Hall, 2000yPrivacy xCollection, storage, and dissemination of information about individuals yAccuracy xAuthenticity, fidelity, and accuracy of information collected and processedyProperty xOwnership and value of information and intellectual propertyyAccessibility xRight to access information and payment of fees to access itOrganize IT Ethical Issues into a Framework7 Prentice Hall, 2000Protecting PrivacyzPrivacy yThe right to be left alone and the right to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions zInformation Privacy yThe “claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, and to what extent, information about them is communicated to others”8 Prentice Hall, 2000Protecting Privacy (cont.)zTwo rules The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy must be balanced against the needs of society. The publics right to know is superior to the individuals right of privacy.9 Prentice Hall, 2000How is Private Information Collected?yReading your newsgroups postingsyFinding you in the Internet DirectoryyMaking your browser record information about you yRecording what your browsers say about youyReading your e-mail 10 Prentice Hall, 2000Web-Site Self-RegistrationyRegistration Questionnaires xtype in private information in order to receive a password to participate in a lottery, to receive information, or to play a game yUses of the Private Information xcollected for planning the business xmay be sold to a third party xused in an inappropriate manner11 Prentice Hall, 2000y40% of all users have falsified information when registering online y66% of all U.S. and European respondents dont register as they dont know how the information is going to be used y63% dont feel that registration is worthwhile considering the content of the sites y58% dont trust the sites collecting this information from themFrom the Eighth User Survey by GVU (1988)12 Prentice Hall, 2000CookiesyPiece of information that allows a Web site to record ones comings and goings xWeb sites can remember information about users and respond to their preferences on a particular site, process is transparent to users xWeb sites can maintain information on a particular user across HTTP connections13 Prentice Hall, 2000yReasons for using cookiesxto personalize information xto improve online sales/services xto simplify tracking of popular links or demographics xto keep sites fresh and relevant to the users interests xto enable subscribers to log in without having to enter a password every visit xto keep track of a customers search preferences xpersonal profiles created are more accurate than self- registration ySolutions to cookiesxusers can delete cookie files stored in their computer xuse of anti-cookie software (e.g. Cookie Cutter and Anonymous Cookie)CookCookies (cont.)14 Prentice Hall, 2000Privacy Protectiony5 basic principles xNotice/Awareness Customers must be given notice and be able to make informed decisions. xChoice/Consent Customers must be made aware of t