Legal issues and requirements
You can find out all about the legal issues and requirements in the ‘Legal and Security’ section of our Guide. Issues to address for an e-commerce web site include:
Legislation
The main regulations for the sale of goods or services using the Internet are:
- The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002334.htm
- The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022013.htm
The regulations are designed to protect the consumer. They spell out the information that you should display on your web site, the contract process and your customers’ rights.
Required information
All web sites must show certain details, including:
- name, postal address and email address of the web site owner
- company registration and VAT numbers
- membership details and registration number of your trade or professional association (if any), with a link to any online professional rules
- clear and unambiguous pricing, showing if VAT is included and any delivery costs
- main features of the goods or services
- cost of phone calls, if a premium rate number is used
In addition, e-commerce sites must give customers more information before they place orders, including:
- how to identify and correct any errors
- the ‘technical steps’ involved
- the point where the contract is formed
- terms and conditions, in a printable format
- details of the customer’s statutory seven working day cancellation period
- any time limit for the offer (how long the price is valid)
Cancellation
The Distance Selling Regulations provide for a cancellation or ‘cooling off’ period during which the customer can withdraw from the contract. This is seven working days, beginning on the day after the goods are delivered. If the customer decides to cancel the contract during the cooling off period, they should do so in writing or by email. The contract that has been cancelled must be treated as if it had never been entered into, with any money already paid being returned to the customer. The regulations allow for some exceptions, which include perishable goods.
Terms and Conditions
If your web site sells goods or services, you must have terms and conditions which take account of the E-commerce and Distance Selling Regulations, as well as any other relevant consumer protection laws.
The terms should be part of the sales process, shown on screen before the customer places an order. The customer should have to click an ‘accept’ or ‘agree’ button at the bottom of the page before they can continue.
Data protection
Collecting and using personal data is regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998. If you collect any private data from web site visitors, you should notify the Information Commissioner. Notification costs £35.00 per year and can be done online at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Your web site must include a data protection notice wherever a visitor is asked to submit personal data. The notice must be correct, or you may be liable to legal action and even lose access to all the data collected. It should include:
- who is collecting the data
- what kind of personal data and how, when and why collected
- what the data will be used for and how long kept
- who the data will be shared with
- whether the data will be sent outside the UK or European Union
- how people can correct, update or delete the data about themselves
You should include a ‘cookie policy’ either in your data protection or in your privacy policy, telling customers about the cookies that you use in the site. A cookie is a very small text file that a web server places on the hard drive of a visitor to a web site. It is like an identification card, and tells the web site when that visitor has returned.
Copyright and intellectual property
The content of your web site is protected by copyright as long as it is your own original work. When you develop your web site, you should think about whether or not you own all the content. If not, do you have a licence from the owner to use the material?
If an employee is responsible for adding content to the site, this will automatically become the employer’s copyright. If a sub-contractor is responsible for adding content to the site, this will be their copyright, unless there is agreement to the contrary.
You should have an agreement in place with your web developer to make sure you will own the copyright of anything that they design on your behalf.
