E-Commerce
A fresh channel of distributing personal information has been opened up by the internet. It is now the fastest developing electronic means of communication the world has ever seen. For instance, in the U.S. after the widespread use of electricity nearly 46 years later only 30% of American homes had access to electricity and almost 38 years elapsed before 30% of households had telephones with only 17% enjoying television. For a period of only 7 years another 30% had internet connection and after 5 years of exponential growth there was rapid expansion of fresh internet connection. More than five million Americans joined the communication superhighway in the first quarter of the year 2000 which translates into about 55,000 fresh users daily (Selis, Ramasasty, Kim, & Smith, 2003).
The quick spread and development of the internet has both pros and cons. The technological growth that makes it possible to get quick access to information and commercial items has given internet service providers a leeway to gather, keep, transfer and sell large degrees of pertinent information to and from persons who utilize their websites. Amongst the American public this gathering of personal data is an issue of great concern and worry (Selis, Ramasasty, Kim, & Smith, 2003).
Increasing concern about online privacy
How this data is gathered and put to use is a matter of public worry and a reason for many people to worry about personal privacy online. A study conducted in November 2000 by UCLA discovered that two-thirds of Americans who use the internet and about ae of non-users are anxious about going online because that endangers their privacy (Selis, Ramasasty, Kim, & Smith, 2003).
A poll carried out recently by Harris showed that 94% of Americans are worried that businesses might misuse their personal information. 29% feel that their privacy has been intruded on and that implies that internet users have a lower confidence rating. Just 21% demonstrated confidence in how the internet sellers use personal information while 61% of those who use the internet said they have opted not to make certain purchases because they were unsure how their personal information would be used. Businesses take a lot of caution to reassure users that present legislation safeguards their privacy or through self-regulation (Selis, Ramasasty, Kim, & Smith, 2003).
The risk to privacy is legally defined as the possibility of personal information being compromised due to online purchases. Even though is rapid growth of sales volume online fears about how online personal information is used remain constant amongst those who make online purchases (Dai, Forsythe, & Kwon, 2014).
Privacy- A drawback of E-commerce
The proliferation of online purchases there are several areas of concern that demand for limitation of e-commerce. One of the key issues pertains to security. For electronic commerce to be boosted in order to spur economic growth of various nations, it is vital that all security concerns are addressed as far as e-commerce is concerned. Customers can learn the value of goods and services by using features of websites such as transaction levels, website design, navigability, delivery capacities and quality of service. But if there is no information regarding security put in place the power of purchases customers have will be reduced. The information regarding security issues can be tackled well if customer confidence in the virtual shops is instilled. Any risks to do with use of personal information are an integral part of online shopping that must be adequately reduced. Some of the most feared risks that internet users face emanate from logistics, cash-flow issues and how information is shared across networks. The most important of the points raised above is information flow because it directly influences the other two factors. Other important factors to be considered include software, business transactions, system weaknesses, security, internet access, possible lack of security in transfer agreements and lack of credibility. Lastly, other factors to look into include leakage of information, interferences, identity, security threats to the system and leakage of privacy (Tsai & Yeh, 2010).
Business can build sophisticated and huge databases due to computerized transactions. That kind of information makes it possible for business to have a wider market reach for the services and products they offer. In the process of selling and sharing this kind of personal information between individuals, many Americans discover that their private personal and financial data like credit card numbers, social security, credit card and bank balances, and information regarding their browsing habits are used in many ways they do not expect. Many disclosures are constantly made to other people, sometimes even those who have no relationship...
They worked with the FTC to define the following four Fair Information Practices, rules designed to prevent companies from abusing the information they receive through online profiling (Computer law tip of the week, 2000): Rule 1 (Notice): A company must notify customers that it uses online profiling to track their online habits. If it collects personally identifiable information about customers, such as their names, addresses or telephone numbers, the company's
E-Commerce Communications Electronic commerce or e-commerce is the term used to describe all forms of information exchange and business transactions based on information and communication technologies. There are different types of formal definitions of e-commerce, but the wide scope involved has resulted in many definitions focusing on only certain aspects. A fairly comprehensive definition covers e-commerce from four different perspectives (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997, p.38) - communications, business process, service and
The communication with readers can be instituted in the form of responsive remarks from visitors. More specifically, the blog sites can be instituted for free of cost. While the webmasters carryout unethical optimization of a client's website, it could have enduring negative business costs for that client that cannot be mended smoothly. The results that apparently are at first glance be negligible. People are becoming shrewder online. They are
For example, almost all companies doing business on the Internet will have a link disclosing their privacy policy and the steps they will take to ensure the customer's privacy. Privacy matters become an issue because, in order to transact business of the Internet, one is required to enter such personal information as credit card numbers, addresses, emails and personal phone numbers. The vast majority of online businesses will have policy disclosure
As will be discussed, this has serious implications for security issues on both a personal, organizational and corporate level. A central concern is that, as the number of users increase online so does the potential threat of invasion of privacy in many insidious forms. This can lead to serious ethical infringements of privacy, such as fraud and identity theft. As Miyazaki, and Fernandez ( 2001) emphasize; This rapid growth (of the
Integrity: Privacy Protection in e-Commerce Websites Privacy Protection in e-Commerce Websites Back in the 90s, websites were more or less digital brochures that did little more than serve their registered users with monthly electronic newsletters. Today, however, websites are powerful and complex information platforms that not only store and process data, but also allow for the sharing of information across a wide range of online platforms. We share personal data on
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