Web Ethics

Author: Youth 2 Youth.

It's important to establish your organisation's code of ethics. This is becoming increasingly important in regards to business web sites.

As a largely uncensored medium, the internet allows pretty much anyone to run an online business, and we have all noticed the amount of them that appear have fairly dodgy services. This means it is important that your web site not only disassociate itself with these kind of operators, but also keep an eye on your own practices. If you have something on your web site that is questionable, for example - a poor privacy policy, it not only looks bad but you're are advertising it to pretty much the entire world!

According to Entrepreneur magazine (Oct 2002 ), to remain ethical and to gain credibility and trust with customers, keep these in mind when designing your website:

- Clearly distinguish advertising from content and news

- Full disclosure of fees

- Privacy statement

- Your physical location

- Contact information

- Disclosure of any financial relationships with other sites, in clear language

- Paid links should be listed as such and separated from editorial content or unpaid links

- Clearly identify any sponsors

Web ethics is still a developing field and there is little policy of information specific to Australian small business. You can, however, find useful information at some American consumer watchdog sites, such as http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/. If you're in any doubt about your web sites clarity, have a chat with your web designer or lawyer, or contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) at www.accc.gov.au.

'Copyright 2003 Youth 2 Youth'

Disclaimer: This article is for your information, but it may not apply to or be suitable for your situation, so seek professional advice. Youth 2 Youth cannot be held liable for anything resulting from how you use the information provided in this article.