Trust in us to make e-commerce secure

The widespread adoption of e-commerce is being hindered by a failure to consider the human aspects of transacting online.

A Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) report published this week claimed that businesses are too focused on the technology supporting their e-commerce strategies, while only three per cent of companies take into account how e-business affects people.

"There is evidence of an undue focus on technology and a lack of attention to human and organisational issues," said the E-business Prospects report.

The study coincides with the launch of Computing's A Question of Trust campaign, which aims to raise business and consumer confidence in making transactions over the internet.

The Office of National Statistics said that e-commerce sales grew 42 per cent in 2001, but the DTI report shows that only 20 per cent of businesses are transacting online.

Computing believes that building trust is fundamental if the UK is to become an international e-commerce leader.

"Security can be seen as a major inhibitor to progress. To others this is a perception, not a reality. They point out that handing your credit card over in a restaurant is probably less secure than using the internet," said the DTI report.

The difference is that people trust a restaurant, but high-profile problems with website security mean that consumers don't have the same faith in the online world.

"The gap between where we want to be in e-commerce and where we are is about putting customer trust first, and that will be at the heart of our campaign," said Computing's editor Michael Gubbins.

"A culture of trust starts with vendors building security into the DNA of products, but it also looks at creating a set of coherent, credible and transparent standards for online trade and a workable legal framework."

E-commerce minister Stephen Timms is backing the campaign. "The issue that comes up time and time again is trust. People see the new technologies not only as an opportunity, but as a threat," he said.

Over the coming months, Computing will focus on the issue by conducting research and holding roundtable events with industry leaders to find a way over this hurdle.

And we want to know what you think. How confident are you and your customers when transacting over the internet? Email your feedback to emma_nash@vnu.co.uk.