Law

What are your legal commitments for starting an online business DownUnder

gtrgerytIf you are an online entrepreneur you must be well versed in the so-called “legal obligations” that you have to abide by when you first opened your virtual business. These business commitments are not just restricted to Australia or places DownUnder, but across the globe.

If you want to excel in e-commerce and want to stand out from the crowd, then you have to play your part well so that you can attract as many customers as you can. It is a well-known fact that aside from hiring the services of SEO companies to work on your company’s search engine optimization strategies, equally important is to protect your customers from online intruders.

Reputed SEO companies aside from enlightening you on the various ways to draw etraffic to your website, they will also encourage you to take the necessary measures so that the online privacy of your prospective customers are safeguarded and so that you do not default on the legal commitments that you are required to meet while running a virtual business.

In this write-up, let us find out the essential aspects that you ought to keep in mind when you start an online business.

Legal commitments for running online business

These are vital and crucial to the smooth functioning of your business online. They include the following-

  1. Intellectual Property (IP)

Being an online entrepreneur this term is not alien to you. It is quite natural for you to encounter the problem of IP when you do an online business. These include copyright issues and infringements on the trademark. IP Australia is responsible for providing trademarks, patents, and registration of designs. As such, when you are planning to start a business virtually you can refer to IP Australia.

  1. Privacy

Being a reputed seller online, you cannot afford to compromise the safety of your customers. In the event you are required to store information about your customers, it is mandatory that you make your customers know the information that you are storing and the one that is related to them. This has been made mandatory as per Privacy Act 1988. Most importantly, according to this legal obligation, you will also be required to keep your clients informed the manner in which you might use the saved or stored information.

  1. E-transactions

The norms that govern transactions are the same in both cases, regardless of whether you carry out one in a brick and mortar market or on the World Wide Web. Also, allowed during the course of any cash or digital transaction is the electronic signature. These functions are administered as per the following laws, namely,

  • Fair Trading Act 1989
  • Electronic Transactions (Queensland) Act 2001
  • Electronic Transactions Act 1999
  1. Online security

A lot is being said these days about online security. And even a child knows the importance of it. It is desirable that you operate your online business in a “secured” environment. This will enable the information you store about your customers to remain confidential and not divulge the same. Aside from maintaining online security for your clients, it is equally important to secure your own business too. In this way you will be able to protect your business from online intruders also. What are the measures you can take to secure your online business from fraud? Check out the following-

  • It is wise to install software and associated programs that will be able to tackle malware and virus attacks
  • Automatic updates need to be ON always and updated from time to time for optimum protection
  • Whenever you click on any attachment or link, you must do so after carefully assessing the URL
  • Keep your system password protected and safeguard it by using a combination of numerals and characters.
  • Change passwords from time to time
  1. Protection of Data

Keep hackers at bay. And this can be achieved by keeping your personal computers, laptops, hand held devices or any device that you use to conduct your business online by strong passwords and antivirus software. Most importantly, keep your data protected by taking a backup of the same. Make sure that the data backup is in different locations so that if one crashes you can turn to the other.

If you have any questions, please ask below!