Retailers' code of practice to protect e-shoppers

By CHRIS DANIELS consumer reporter

Internet shoppers should be better protected from rip-offs and scams with the arrival soon of an online code of practice for retailers.

Speaking at the E-Commerce Summit held in Auckland yesterday, Keith Norris, chief executive of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) said the NZ E-Marketing Standards Authority should be functioning by the end of the month.

He said there was no need for an expensive bureaucracy to regulate internet-marketing.

Techniques and disciplines of e-marketing were exactly the same as old-fashioned direct marketing and were covered by existing consumer protection laws.

Some of the problem areas that people worried about on the internet, such as pyramid schemes, referral schemes, work-from-home scams and bogus surveys were nothing new. They all existed in the market, so all that had changed was the medium by which they were being transmitted.

The new code is based on ideas published by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and includes things such as putting a company's physical address on any website, privacy protection and clear ways of dealing with complaints.

Consumer Affairs Minister Phillida Bunkle has said this year she is not entirely convinced that business could be left to regulate itself on the internet.

"Indeed, I have been told that regulation for consumer protection in e-commerce is unnecessary, difficult to design, costly to administer and may restrict e-commerce development,"she said.

"I am not sure that I accept all of this."

BaycorpID services chief executive David Young said he had seen some "amazingly insecure" websites in New Zealand and Australia.

While many of the scams taking place online were nothing new, the remoteness and global reach of the internet did make it easier for criminals to operate.

It was easy for the dishonest to send hoax emails purporting to be from reputable companies, which could send share prices plummeting.

Whenever email travelled along satellite links, it was vulnerable to snoopers armed with sophisticated monitoring devices. They could scan through thousands of emails and get access to any un-encrypted information.

Taking advantage of the present interest in internet shopper protection, credit card company American Express yesterday announced an "Online Guarantee" for its New Zealand customers. The company said cardholders would not be held responsible for any unauthorised charges made on their card while internet shopping.

This guarantee ensures that American Express Card members will not be held responsible for any unauthorised charges made on their cards while shopping over the internet. The guarantee applies for all New Zealand cardholders shopping on the web, regardless of where the site is based.

Herald Online feature: e-commerce summit

Official e-commerce summit website