So much attention has been paid lately to protecting consumers online that many have begun to complain that we are beginning to stifle e-commerce with regulations. New European e-commerce regulations passed to assist online business on that continent have been criticized for  being counterproductive. Shocking isn’t it? Can you imagine a major government bureaucracy doing anything counterproductive to businesses? Recent internet legislation in the US put forth by John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, aims at bureaucratizing the entire internet within a federally mandated internet security office. To quote Rockefeller  and the Washington post: “People say this is a military or intelligence concern, but it’s a lot more than that,” Rockefeller, a former intelligence committee chairman, said in an interview. “It suddenly gets into the realm of traffic lights and rail networks and water and electricity.” So the internet has now become as essential as the roads, rails and wires we’ve built from coast to coast and the government intends to defend it as such with their full capabilities. But let’s step back for a moment and discuss consumer safety in the “real world” because the government has been largely unable to protect the consumer there as well. Though many are concerned about cyber- security and ecommerce safety , and rightfully so, there is a current outrage in Vancouver BC over a debit terminal fraud that has emptied the bank accounts of thousands of lower mainland residents.

The problem is widespread and consumers have been angered at the lack of transparency concerning the locations where cards were compromised. Unfortunately for those who have been scammed this is  the protocol for dealing with these kinds of bank card frauds. It’s considered the responsibility of the bank, not the government, to protect consumer’s who use the hardware that’s been compromised- but the criminal investigation relies on confidentiality.

Though the security of bank cards and their pin numbers have been the responsibility of the banks themselves, the Canadian government has taken the lead on  identity theft.  While banks maintain responsibility for cards and pins the government is responsible for those who use them. The passing of Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code means that it’s now a criminal offense to obtain and possess identity information with the intent to use the information deceptively, dishonestly or fraudulently in the commission of a crime. It is also a criminal offense to transfer or sell information to another person without considering the possible criminal uses of that information and to unlawfully possess or traffick in government-issued identity documents that contain another person’s information. These steps effectively neuter identity theft operations before they’re able to gain momentum and do some serious damage, or at least that’s the hope.

In finding a balance between the freedom of business and the paternalism of bureaucracy we can create the systems we need to allow for flexible and secure ecommerce. But judging by what we see going on in the physical realm we need to have a co-operative approach. Government and institutions can only do so much- we as consumers need to be vigilant and cautious. Scammers will continue to find new and creative ways to completely screw us over and the more we let them do it (by letting our guard down)  the easier it is for bureaucracies to come tilting at windmills, for better or worse, with legislation and regulation. Suffocating us, and the internet, with their love.

Tags: bank accounts, consumer safety, debit terminal fraud, e-commerce, eCommerce, European e-commerce regulations, identity theft, internet legislation, internet security, protecting consumers online, stifle e-commerce with regulations, Vancouver BC

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