Trusted operational scenarios - Trust building mechanisms and strategies for electronic marketplaces.

This document presents and describes the trusted operational scenarios, resulting from the research and work carried out in Seamless project. The report presents identified collaboration habits of small and medium enterprises with low e-skills, trust building mechanisms and issues as main enablers of online business relationships on the electronic marketplace, a questionnaire analysis of the level of trust acceptance and necessity of trust building mechanisms, a proposal for the development of different strategies for the different types of trust mechanisms and recommended actions for the SEAMLESS project or other B2B marketplaces.trust building mechanisms, trust, B2B networks, e-marketplaces

E-Commerce and Trans-Atlantic Privacy

For almost a decade, the United States and Europe have anticipated a clash over the protection of personal information. Between the implementation in Europe of comprehensive legal protections pursuant to the directive on data protection and the continued reliance on industry self-regulation in the United States, trans-Atlantic privacy policies have been at odds with each other. The rapid growth in e-commerce is now sparking the long-anticipated trans-Atlantic privacy clash. This Article will first look at the context of American e-commerce and the disjuncture between citizens\u27 privacy and business practices. The Article will then turn to the international context and explore the adverse impact, on the status quo in the United States, of European data protection law as harmonized by Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 Oct. 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. Following this analysis, the Article will show that the “safe harbor” agreement between the United States Department of Commerce and the European Commission--designed to alleviate the threat of disruption in trans-Atlantic data flows and, in particular, to mollify concerns for the stability of online data transfers--is only a weak, seriously flawed solution for e-commerce. In the end, extra-legal technical measures and contractual mechanisms might minimize privacy conflicts for e-commerce transactions, but an international treaty is likely the only sustainable solution for long-term growth in trans-border commercial interchange

Unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam): integrated policy and practice

The internet offers a cost-effective medium to build better relationships with customers than has been possible with traditional marketing media. Internet technologies, such as electronic mail, web sites and digital media, offer companies the ability to expand their customer reach, to target specific communities, and to communicate and interact with customers in a highly customised manner. In the last few years, electronic mail has emerged as an important marketing tool to build and maintain closer relationships both with customers and with prospects. E-mail marketing has become a popular choice for companies as it greatly reduces the costs associated with previously conventional methods such as direct mailing, cataloguing (i.e. sending product catalogues to potential customers) and telecommunication marketing. As small consumers obtain e-mail addresses, the efficiency of using e-mail as a marketing tool will grow. While e-mail may be a boon for advertisers, it is a problem for consumers, corporations and internet service providers since it is used for sending 'spam' (junk-mail). Unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), which is commonly called spam, impinges on the privacy of individual internet users. It can also cost users in terms of the time spent reading and deleting the messages, as well as in a direct financial sense where users pay time-based connection fees. Spam, which most frequently takes the form of mass mailing advertisements, is a violation of internet etiquette (EEMA, 2002). This thesis shows that spam is an increasing problem for information society citizens. For the senders of spam, getting the message to millions of people is easy and cost-effective, but for the receivers the cost of receiving spam is financial, time-consuming, resource-consuming, possibly offensive or even illegal, and also dangerous for information systems. The problem is recognised by governments who have attempted legislative measures, but these have had little impact because of the combined difficulties of crossing territorial boundaries and of continuously evasive originating addresses. Software developers are attempting to use technology to tackle the problem, but spammers keep one step ahead, for example by adapting subject headings to avoid filters. Filters have difficulty differentiating between legitimate e-mail and unwanted e-mail, so that while we may reduce our junk we may also reduce our wanted messages. Putting filter control into the hands of individual users results in an unfair burden, in that there is a cost of time and expertise from the user. Where filter control is outsourced to expert third parties, solving the time and expertise problems, the cost becomes financial. Given the inadequacy of legislation, and the unreliability of technical applications to resolve the problem, there is an unfair burden on information society citizens. This research has resulted in the conclusion that cooperation between legislation and technology is the most effective way to handle and manage spam, and that therefore a defence in depth should be based on a combination of those two strategies. The thesis reviews and critiques attempts at legislation, self-regulation and technical solutions. It presents a case for an integrated and user-oriented approach, and provides recommendations

Lex Informatica: The Formulation of Information Policy Rules through Technology

Historically, law and government regulation have established default rules for information policy, including constitutional rules on freedom of expression and statutory rights of ownership of information. This Article will show that for network environments and the Information Society, however, law and government regulation are not the only source of rule-making. Technological capabilities and system design choices impose rules on participants. The creation and implementation of information policy are embedded in network designs and standards as well as in system configurations. Even user preferences and technical choices create overarching, local default rules. This Article argues, in essence, that the set of rules for information flows imposed by technology and communication networks form a “Lex Informatica” that policymakers must understand, consciously recognize, and encourage

Customers repurchase intention formation in e-commerce

Background: Electronic loyalty (e-loyalty) has become important in the context of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in recent years. Loyal customers bring long-term revenue to companies and are known to be a valuable asset to them. However, firms lose their customers in a competitive environment on the Internet because of a lack of trust, satisfaction and loyalty. Objectives: This study explains how e-loyalty, e-trust and e-satisfaction form in e-commerce with a focus on customer purchase intention formation. Method: A conceptual framework was formed based upon the literature review. Data were collected from e-customers of online firms in South Africa. After data clarification, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. The structural equation modelling was applied to test the hypotheses. IBM SPSS AMOS 20 was used for this purpose. Results: Firstly, convenience, customer benefit and enjoyment affect customer satisfaction in e-commerce. In other words, when customers do business activities easily with enjoyment and take benefit, they are satisfied and they will purchase again in future. Secondly, our study demonstrated that customer perception of security, clear shopping process and reliable payment system have a positive relationship with e-trust. Finally, e-satisfaction and e-trust have a positive and strong relationship with e-loyalty formation in e-commerce. Conclusion: The results of the study shed light on important issues relating to e-loyalty formation from a new perspective. Online companies are interested in launching e-loyalty programmes because of the long-term benefits that come from loyal customers. To remain competitive, e-commerce companies should constantly work at enhancing customer trust, satisfaction and loyalty

AICPA/CICA WebTrust program for online privacy, November 30, 2000, Version 3.0

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_prof/1490/thumbnail.jp

Electronic Commerce: A Half-Empty Glass?

This article introduces an electronic commerce paradox by observing that while electronic commerce grows rapidly it is, at the same time, based on unsettled foundations. It describes how 22 constraints for global electronic commerce were identified, and analyzes them in depth. The constraints fall into four themes: 1. Building trust for users and consumers 2. Establishing ground rules for the digital marketplace 3. Enhancing information infrastructure 4. Maximizing benefits. Each of these themes contains a number of critical issues. The first theme--building trust for users and consumers--involves privacy protection, security, consumer protection, authentication and confidentiality, and access blocking. The second theme includes legal framework, acceptance of electronic transactions, taxation, tariffs, intellectual property protection, commercial policy, and payment systems. Enhancing information infrastructure covers the needed infrastructure enhancements and includes Internet infrastructure and governance, interconnectivity and technical convergence, technical standards, bandwidth and accessibility, and the question of how to further the competition. The last theme is about maximizing the benefits of electronic commerce and includes the understanding of digital economy, its measurement, seamless globalization, and involvement of small businesses. At the time that this paper was written (February 2000) none of these 22 issues had been resolved. Yet, they need to be worked out if electronic commerce is to be successful in both the developed and the underdeveloped world