The Regulations Of Privacy Policy and Internet Shopping

Unsolicited emails, otherwise known as 'spam', could be described as one of the most irritating 'side effects' of using the Internet. They are used as a means to commercially communicate, or advertise a promotional offer or product, without being invited to do so. Spam is a fairly common marketing tool, but sellers risk putting potential customers off by using these means.

This is because one person will often receive dozens of spam emails in a day, many of them completely inappropriate and persistent. The sheer volume of spam being received by some individuals could sometimes feel like harassment and in violation of their right to privacy. Although regulations are in place to elect to be taken off lists used for commercial marketing via unsolicited mail through the post (junk mail) and by telephone, until 2003 unsolicited electronic mails weren't really regulated as such.

There is also the danger that spam emails could have some virus attached to them, which sometimes means that the recipient doesn't want to open the email. Then there is also the issue of privacy - if someone hasn't elected to receive marketing information from a business they may feel resentful about receiving the email in the first place.

The Problem

The problem lies in the fact that unsolicited emails can begin to arrive in large volumes if an email address is published on the Internet, perhaps through completely innocent means such as a link on a website or contacts page. In this case privacy is difficult to uphold in cyberspace. 'Spammers' can scan the Internet to get hold of addresses published on the Internet and then send out mass unsolicited emails to the address that they've collected in this way.

Partly as a response to this, in 2003 the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) began to enforce a set of regulations entitled the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulation. Basically this was an update of the pre-existing Telecommunications (Data Protection an Privacy) Regulations, which sought to include issues such as privacy and unsolicited email and SMS marketing activities.

The Regulations

The heart of the Privacy and Electronic Regulations is to try and ensure that any company using unsolicited emails are clearly identifiable as such, and that it is clear from the subject line of the email or SMS that the communication is commercial and relates to a promotion and marketing or advertising of a product. The Regulations also stipulate that the sender of the commercial communication must also include the name of the intended recipient in the email - concealing or disguising this is regarded as a breach of the regulations. The identity and contact details of the sender must also be included in the communication.

The other key point that appears in the Regulations is that the sender of the email must provide the recipient with a valid email address that they can contact to cease the unsolicited marketing communications. The recipient must have given consent prior to receiving any such commercial communications, unless they have decided to opt-in already and given their consent to receive these sorts of emails. The Regulations stipulate that if an individual is an existing customer of a company and has bought a product, then the company may send them unsolicited advertising emails pertaining to products that relate to the customer's previous purchases. However, the customer must always be given an opportunity to 'opt-out' of receiving these emails. This is often found in the privacy policy published on the website.

Any company in breach of the Regulations are liable to an enforcement notice, and if this is contravened then the company may be fined or have criminal sanctions imposed upon them.

Cookies and Privacy

Cookies are often placed on websites to help the website owner track the activity of the website visitors. The cookies send snippets of information to the website owner, and this includes information about the user's browsing patterns, including their preferences, what they viewed and what they downloaded. The Regulations aim to give the user an opportunity to not download these cookies onto their PC. The theory is that the user should be able to elect to opt-out by being given on how to disable the cookies on their browser.

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act is also a piece of relative legislation that is associated with privacy policies and personal information. The Act governs the use of personal information by businesses an organisations, and ensures that personal details are kept in accordance with the Act.

The principles of the Act mean that all personal data is processed lawfully and for lawful purposes. In part, this means that basically the details are accurate, kept up to date and only kept as long as they are needed for the purpose that they are being used for.

Personal details kept on record are deemed by the act to only need to be adequate, relevant to the company and not excessively detailed. The details themselves are not allowed to be transferred outside of the European Economic Area. The only circumstances that would allow this were if the personal information were properly protected in the transferral. Individuals are given certain rights under the Data Protection Act. With regard to privacy, an individual's right includes the right for the individual to not have their details used to receive direct marketing, and to also acquire information held about themselves. If an individual believes that they have suffered physically or financially as a consequence of this Act being breached, then they are entitled, through court, to the right to claim compensation.

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