E-Commerce Laws: What to know for your online business

E-Commerce, Business Planning

E-commerce law can be a complex field to navigate for online businesses. E-commerce laws govern things like consumer protection, privacy policies, intellectual property, advertising standards, and marketing emails. It is important for all businesses to understand these laws when operating online to ensure compliance and avoid disputes. 

 

Here is what you need to know about e-commerce laws in Australia: 

 

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) 

The ACL is found in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Businesses should familiarise themselves with the following aspects of the ACL: 

 

  • Consumer Guarantees: These are mandatory promises that businesses make to consumers. These aim to protect consumers and make sure that goods and services provided by businesses meet certain standards with respect to acceptable quality, fitness for purpose, and matching their advertised descriptions. 

 

  • Remedies: Where you do not meet the consumer guarantees, you must provide customers with a refund, replacement, or repair depending on the nature and severity of the breach. 

 

  • Misleading and deceptive conduct: It is illegal to make false or misleading claims about your products or services. This includes conduct that is likely to mislead or deceive consumers and any representations on your print advertising, website, and social media. 

 

 

The Privacy Act 

If your business collects, uses, or stores personal information from your customers, then you must comply with the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This means your business must— 

 

  • Obtain consent from your consumers before collecting their data. 

 

 

  • Securely store sensitive information to prevent any privacy and data breaches. 

 

Businesses should have a tailored privacy policy which sets out how they collect, use, store and disclose the personal information of their customers. Your privacy policy also needs to include a way for customers to contact you if they need to amend their information or have any questions about the way their information is handled by your business. 

 

 

 

Advertising Standards 

You must make sure that any online advertising run by your business complies with the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code of Ethics to ensure truthfulness and avoid offensive content. 

The Code is divided into two sections:  

  • Competitor Complaints: This section provides a mechanism for complainants to resolve disputes between competitors in an efficient and low-cost way without the need for recourse to the courts. Some key clauses include: 
  • Advertising must not be misleading or deceptive or be likely to mislead or deceive. 
  • Advertising must not contain a misrepresentation which is likely to cause damage to the business or goodwill of a competitor.  
  • Consumer Complaints: This section provides the self-regulatory rules around portrayal of people, violence, treatment of sex, sexuality and nudity, appropriate language, health, safety and distinguishability in advertising. Some key clauses include: 
  • Advertising must not show violence unless it is justifiable in the context of the advertisement. 
  • Businesses must treat sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant audience. 

For more information, please visit https://aana.com.au/self-regulation/codes-guidelines/code-of-ethics/ 

 

The Spam Act 2003 

If your business sends marketing emails or SMS messages, then you must comply with the Spam Act to ensure that you –  

 

  • Obtain express consent from recipients before sending messages. Businesses cannot send you marketing messages without your permission. This provision protects individuals from being bombarded with unwanted commercial content. 

 

  • Provide a clear unsubscribe option in all communications. Recipients must be given a simple and effective way to opt out of receiving future messages. 

 

  • Accurately identify yourself as the sender. Businesses cannot hide behind vague or misleading identities

 

Key Takeaways 

  • Businesses must understand e-commerce laws when operating online to ensure compliance and avoid disputes. 
  • Ensure your business abides by the ACL, Privacy Act, Advertising Standards and the Spam Act. 

 

 

Gladwin Legal are experts in E-commerce Law and have extensive experience in advising businesses. If you require assistance in understanding your legal obligations please contact us at or 1300 033 934.