Title: Ethical aspects of e-commerce: data subjects and content

Authors: Alejo Jose G. Sison, Joan Fontrodona

Addresses: Institute for Enterprise and Humanism, University of Navarra, 31080 Pamplona, Spain. ' Center for Business in Society, IESE Business School, Avda Pearson, 2108034 Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: This paper reflects on ethical challenges posed by internet commerce with special emphasis on those involving the content and information users. The paper discusses the main ethical issues in e-commerce such as security, privacy, identity and nonrefutability of transactions. It proposes measures which both the government and the private sector can adopt to address those issues on different levels. Finally, the paper reflects on the creation of value by leveraging trust and proposes two universal principles to be upheld in internet commerce: online-offline consistency and technological neutrality.

Keywords: ethical issues; security; privacy; identity; nonrefutability; trust; online-offline consistency; technological neutrality; e-commerce; electronic commerce; ethics; internet.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2006.008970

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2006 Vol.3 No.1, pp.5 - 18

Published online: 09 Feb 2006 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article