Principles and Guidelines for Businesses

The Working Group on Electronic Commerce and Consumers has developed the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce. This code establishes benchmarks of good business practice for merchants conducting commercial activities with consumers online. In particular, it establishes principles for the following areas: 

• Principle 1: Information Provision
  Vendors are to provide consumers with complete and accurate information with regard to an online transaction from product information to purchasing terms.
• Principle 2: Language
  Vendors are to conduct a transaction and provide customer service in the language in which a product or service is sold. If language support is not available, the consumer must be informed.
• Principle 3: Contract Formation and Fulfilment
  Vendors are responsible for informing consumers of all aspects of a contract, promptly informing them of changes to terms and refunding consumers if a product or service does not match the description provided.
• Principle 4: Online Privacy
  Vendors are to disclose their privacy policies, limit the collection of personal information and refrain from disclosing personal information without the consumers express consent.
• Principle 5: Security of Payment and Personal Information
  Vendors and other parties involved in an online transaction shall maintain controls to protect transaction and personal information and establish security practices to suit the type of information being collected.
• Principle 6: Redress
  Dispute resolution should be accessible, expeditious and transparent to the consumer.
• Principle 7: Unsolicited e-Mail
  E-mail may not be sent without consumer consent and all e-mail must include a valid return address and provide a simple process for consumers to stop further e-mail from being sent.
• Principle 8: Communications with Children
  Vendors must take extra care to ensure that proper content and language is used when communicating with children and that personal information is collected with parental consent. Some exceptions exist with regard to contests and clubs.