Consumer websites and transaction security
E-commerce is a form of commerce and is therefore subject to Community directives (Community law) and national provisions relating to commerce in general. For example, Law 2251/94 on "Consumer Protection" contains provisions on distance contracts (Article 4), which also apply to the construction of e-commerce websites.
This law provides that any distance purchase is invalid in favor of the consumer, if it is proven that the latter was not clearly informed before the purchase about information related to the identity of the supplier, the essential characteristics of the product, the method of payment, the delivery time and the right of withdrawal.
The protection of the personal data of consumers who visit the website of an online store is a basic obligation. The regulations regarding the protection of personal data also apply online. Personal data must be used only for the purpose for which it was collected and kept only as long as is necessary for the purposes of the particular transaction. Collection and processing of personal data can only be done with the express consent of consumers, after they have previously been informed about the purpose, categories of data, etc. The clear presentation of the methods of protection and use of personal data on the website of your online store is an important step to create relationships of trust between the online store and the consumer. Regarding the "identity" of an online store, appropriate information about who the real owner is should be explicitly provided. The existence of a special mark on the website, certifying the identity of the owner (from known public or private organizations) is an advantage. In addition, it should be possible for the consumer to contact the phone number at the store's physical headquarters (it must be listed on the website) for more information.
The security of electronic transactions is a very important issue and must be taken seriously when operating an electronic transaction system. Today, technology provides very advanced solutions in this matter. It is very important to declare on your homepage the security measures used in the system, so as to ensure the trust of your customers.
An online store that cares about the security of its customers should use a number of "security systems" in order to ensure the security of its transactions. Sending personal data, such as card details, should be done in a secure environment, using special data encryption and financial transaction security protocols. To ensure the confidentiality, integrity and provenance of an information in transit, network security protocol technology such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) is used, using which the information is encrypted before transmitted over the network and decrypted by the recipient. In this way, the transaction cannot be disputed either in terms of origin or content.
A separate process is activated when the customer's intention to purchase is expressed. To settle the issue of payment, three solutions are essentially available: advance payment to a bank account, cash on delivery and card debit. Of these solutions, the use of the credit card is the primary means of processing a complete electronic transaction, and indeed a global network has been designed to clear transactions in this way.
Today, a multitude of services have been developed that undertake to fully handle the settlement, without the involvement of the trader. These services undertake to receive the cardholder's details and then check the details for accuracy, validity and available balance. They then proceed to charge the card and credit the merchant's account accordingly.