Ethical aspects of e-commerce: data subjects and content

Abstract

This paper reflects on the ethical challenges posed by Internet commerce, with special emphasis on those involving the content and the users of the information. The paper discusses the main ethical issues in e-commerce, including security, privacy, identity and nonrefutability of transactions. It proposes measures which both governments and the private sector could adopt to address those issues on different levels. Finally, the paper reflects on the creation of value by leveraging trust and proposes two universal principles to be upheld in Internet commerce: online-offline consistency and technological neutrality.Security; privacy; identity; nonrefutability; e-commerce ethics;