New report funded by the .CA Community Investment Program recommends taking practical steps to clarify privacy and T&C statements, to bolster consumer confidence

TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ – A new report released today by the Consumers Council of Canada cautions that overly complex privacy and terms & conditions statements can put Canadian consumers and businesses at significant legal risk and undermine the trust between customers and online businesses.

This comprehensive study included qualitative reviews of online terms and conditions statements, interviews with experts, as well as a survey of Canadian Internet users.

“We believe enlightened companies will see these recommendations as a way to reduce their own business risk and strengthen trusted relationships with their customers,” said Howard Deane, who authored the report for the Consumers Council of Canada.

Key facts

The full report and set of recommendations is available online here.

Executive quotes

“The Consumers Council of Canada is pleased to be able to engage the important public discussion about better ways to reach agreement online. The Council respects the commitment CIRA showed to a safer more prosperous Internet for all by financially supporting the research project leading to the guide. The views in the guide are ours, not theirs. But we share with them the commitment to make the Internet a great ‘place’ for consumers.”

“Trust and confidence is absolutely critical to electronic commerce and this practice of companies using long, complex, and poorly-understood terms and conditions statements has the potential to undermine these important commercial relationships. With so much at stake for the growth and development of e-commerce, it’s critical that businesses come to terms with this issue and communicate with their customers in ways they can understand.”

Additional resources

About .CA and the Community Investment Program

Through the Community Investment Program, .CA funds projects that demonstrate the capacity to improve the Internet for all Canadians. The .CA team manages Canada’s country code top-level domain on behalf of all Canadians. A Member-driven organization, .CA represents the interests of Canada’s Internet community internationally.