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Solved Assignment E-Commerce Data Collection, Privacy, and Legal Risks

Description: This assignment covers the legal risks, privacy concerns, and methods of data collection in e-commerce.

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    Solved Assignment E - Commerce Data Collection, Privacy, and Legal Risks In the context of e - commerce ventures, IT security and the legal implications surrounding the collection of user data are critical aspects of managing privacy and liability risks. Based on the provided article, answer the following questions: 1. Data Collection Practices: a. Identify and explain the different methods through which e - commerce sites collect personal data. (Word count: 300 - 400) b. Discuss the potential liability risks associated with both actively and passively collected data, especially concerning third - party advertisers and cookies. (Word count: 300 - 400) 2. Privacy Policy Development: a. What are the four main steps an organization must follow to assess the liability risk of a site’s information collection practices? (Word count: 250 - 300) b. Outline the key elements of an effective privacy policy, highlighting the importance of each element. (Word count: 400 - 500) 3. Legal and Public Policy Concerns: a. Compare and contrast the perspectives of proponents and privacy advocates regarding online profiling and data collection. (Word count: 300 - 400) b. Explain the role of the FTC in regulating online privacy and the challenges companies face when developing privacy policies. (Word count: 250 - 300) Total word count for the assignment: 1,750 – 2,100 words

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    Introduction IT Security is one of the most complex legal issues facing e - comme rce ventures today. Many sites have little interest in actively profiling their users or discovering personal information about them. However, these sites will often collect significant amounts of personally identifiable data that may trigger liability risks. Some of this data is actively supplied by users. For example, sites today collect names, physical and email addresses, and credit card information through forms. Users may also voluntarily supply personal information in their threaded discussion messages, which are archived on the site. On the other hand, some of this data is passively collected. The host server records routine information about each visit. Some of the site's banner ads allow third - party advertisers to track users' browsing habits. Organizations today should assess the liability risk of a site's information collection practices. T his task can be broken down into four main steps. First, they must determine what information is collected by the site. Second, they must evaluate the potential liability for those information collection practices. Third, they must choose whether to develop a privacy policy to disclose those practices. And, fourth, they must verify their compliance with statutes or regulations. This paper will examine each of these four steps. Information Collection Many e - commerce sites directly ask users for personal information through forms. However, in addition to such information, many sites also record data about their users' browsing habits. This data can be matched with personal and demographic information to create a profile of user preferences. Sites might use these profiles to target advertising or offer customized services. Or, sites might engage in web lining , where different users are offered different prices based on their profiles. Users who have more money or want a product more are charged more; alternately, reduced prices are denied to users who shop so well

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    for bargains that vendors will make no profit by selling to them. Business Week has a great article on web lining . Attorneys must be cognizant that some e - commerce clients may not always be aware of the extent to which their site collects data about its customers. At first glance, these sites might not appear to collect much information. But, if we look deeper, we can see that users are disclosing information in two important ways: first, data automatically collected by the site's server software, and second, data collected by third - party advertisers through their site s . For many organizations , the server software will almost certainly collect a great deal of information automatically. Most server software will automatically record a web log of browsing habits: what pages users visit, the time and duration of those visits, advertisements viewed and clicked on during those visits, purchases made, query terms entered in search engines, and the referring website that directed the user to the company's page. Furthermore, most software will automatically obtain information about each user's IP address, computer name, browser type, email address (if provided by the user's browser or a "web bug"), network owner, and domain registration. In addition to this information, these sites do allow third - party advertisers to place cookies on users' hard drives. Ads on these site s are placed through DoubleDealer, a (fictional) advertising network similar to DoubleClick. DoubleDealer uses cookies to develop long - term profiles of users' browsing habits across multiple visits and different sites. It has a profile for every user that has ever looked one of their ads. Every time a user sees a DoubleDealer ad — on any site that carries their ads -- her computer will send a note to DoubleDealer indicating what kind of website she's looking at. And DoubleDealer will store that information in her file, so it knows to send her more ads related to skiing or new age music or whatever she seems to like. In this sense, DoubleDealer tracks users through its hosting site and all the other sites on its advertising network. As counsel to the WGU site, it is important that we recognize DoubleDealer's practices because they could create liability risks and must be disclosed in their site's privacy policy.

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