Law, Investigation, Ethics, And Physical Security Control Essays Example

Amazom.com Privacy Statement Review

There is high concern about internet privacy, but treatment prescriptions vary widely. When formulating policy proposals, privacy advocates seek varying goals. Some of them seek to protect society and individuals from the loss of privacy effects such as lose of human dignity. Other policy advocates seek to encourage online market development in personal information in order for consumers to profit from their own information instead of giving it away. Others primarily seek to promote e-commerce growth, and view privacy fears as threat to their goals. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put in place some requirements that should be met. The main aim of FTC is to protect consumers and ensure competitive strong market by enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws. They protect against business practices that are harmful and protect the market from practices that are anti-competitive (Jonathan, 2013).
One of the FTC’s requirements is that the website should provide notice or awareness to the users. Amazon.com provides a notice to the users on how it gathers information. Amazon gathers information from customers to help them personalize and improve customer experience. It gathers the information from: information given by the customer, Amazon receives and stores information when a customer enters on its website; automatic information, it receives and stores information whenever a customer interact with them; mobile, when a user downloads or uses an application created by Amazon, they can receive information about customers location and his or her mobile device; e-mail conversations, they usually receive a confirmation whenever a customer open an email from Amazon.com if the customers computer support these capabilities; they also receive information from other sources, Amazon can receive information about a customer from other sources and add then add it to its account information (Amazon.com, 2014).
Federal Trade Commission requires that a commercial website should provide choice or consent. Amazon.com provides choice to its customers. For instance, a customer can update or add certain information. If a customer does not want to receive email from Amazon, the customer can adjust his or her Customer Communication Preferences. If a customer does not want Amazon to use personal information to allow third parties personalize advertisements, the customer can adjust his or her Advertising Preferences.
Federal Trade Commission also requires that commercial websites state participation and access. Amazon.com have stated in its policy that it does not sell products for purchase by children, this means that children cannot access and purchase products, they only sell children’s products for purchase by only adults. Amazon.com participates in Safe Harbor program which was developed by U.S Department of Commerce, Switzerland and European Union; they adhere to the principles of Safe Harbor Privacy.
Federal Trade Commission requires that a commercial website adheres to security and integrity. Amazon.com adheres to this provision. In its privacy policy, it states how it secures customers information. Amazon protects customer’s information during transmission by making use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) software, this software encrypts information inputted by the customer. They only reveal the last four digits of customer’s credit card number during order confirmation. It also advises customers to sign off when they finish using shared computers. It also explains to customers how to manage cookies, for instance the help feature tells the customer how to prevent his or her browser from accepting new cookies, how to make the browser give a notification when a customer receives a new cookie, or how to completely disable cookies (Amazon.com, 2014).

References

Amazon.com (2014). Privacy Notice. Retrieved 18 February 2015 from <http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_privacy?ie=UTF8&nodeId=468496>
Jonathan S. (2013). New Legal Requirements For Website Privacy Policies. Retrieved 18 February 2015 from <http://www.hansonbridgett.com/Publications/articles/2013-10-web-privacy-policy.aspxsthash.K7M9qCKl.dpuf>