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More data security and confidence for electronic trading (by Alicia Hdez. Socorro)

Last 12th of October a new Law came into force, number 34/2002 of the 11th of July, regulating Public Informative Services and electronic trading (LSSICE) that has started fresh controversy between consumers-users, providers of services in internet and the firm decision of the Government to control online activities along the guidelines of current European Directorate.

A great number are of the opinion that with this legislation two basic human rights are humiliated (the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of communication) because every person that is surfing the net now has to put up with that fact that each of his or her activities will be carefully registered and safed for one year.

Others argue that tax authorities from now on will have the possibility to control commercial activities that were up to now carried out in the dark. The opposition uses exactly this as an argument: the law is supposed to be a strike on the actions that are carried out illegally and unauthorized and therefore provides a guarantee for the consumer.

Put shortly, the new law consists of a stricter control of commercial and sale-orientated supply (goods or services, games of chance, provision of information, mediatory actions like e.g. internet provider, data transfer or provision of a server) - in principle all the common actions provided by a web portal or a commercial website including e-commerce - as well as a number of duties that in general demand huge investments (e.g. the necessity to register in a public register, like the Register of Companies providing domain-names or internet-addresses).

Furthermore the suppliers of commercial sites have to put personal data onto their pages like e.g. name, address, email-address, academic or juridical titles, registration numbers as well as tax number (NIF) as well as detailed prices and taxes for every good or service offered on their page in order to let the customer know with whom he is trading with. The law obliges the suppliers of internet-services to work together with the authorities of state regarding the provision of information and contents in the net or the reduction of hits on sites that aren't following legal guidelines. This affects residential suppliers as well as suppliers that operate from a branch office in Spain, both of them being controlled similarily.

Adding to this, providers must safe connection data as well as contents (e-mails) for a period of 12 months and by those means provide the necessary data that identifies their origin and the way the conncection was buit up.
From now on the electronic conclusion of a contract will play a more important role because electronical-transferred documents will have the same validity as every other kind of contract on paper, provided that the customer agrees.
With the new consumer-orientated law that functions as a guarantee for the consumer all kinds of service suppliers in the internet come under fire and can in case of violation be charged with a fine that ranges between EUR 30,000 and EUR 600,000 - depending on the volume of the invoice, the amount of the damage caused and other aspects, e.g. the violation of general public values and norms, the public health system or youth protection.