Tips on Secure Online Shopping- the best online shop, geminieal

Tips on Secure Online Shopping
With the development of e-commerce, shoppers can buy nearly any products online -- from toothpick to yacht, from lottery to home loans. The world of electronic commerce, also known as e-commerce, enables consumers to shop at thousands of online stores and pay for their purchases without leaving the comfort of home. For many, the Internet has taken the place of Saturday afternoon window shopping at the mall. Consumers expect merchants to not only make their products available on the Web, but to make payments a simple and secure process. However, the same things can go wrong shopping in cyberspace as in the real world. Sometimes it is simply a case of a computer glitch or poor customer service. Other times, shoppers are cheated by clever scam artists.
A February 2010 survey by Pew Internet found that 66% of Americans surveyed have purchased a product online because it is convenient and saves time. While the survey reported that over half those surveyed experienced frustration, confusion, or being overwhelmed with information, the greatest concern for online shoppers, 75%, was in sending credit card and personal information over the Internet.
Just as shoppers should take measures to protect themselves in brick-and-mortar stores — such as protecting their PIN numbers when checking out and not leaving purses unattended — online shoppers also need to take sensible precautions. This guide offers advice on how to make your online shopping experiences enjoyable and safe.
1. Shop at Secure Web Sites
How can you tell if a Web site is secure? Secure sites use encryption technology to transfer information from your computer to the online merchant's computer. You can tell when you are dealing with a secure Web site in several ways:
• First, if you look at the top of your screen where the Web site address is displayed, you should see https://. The "s" that is displayed after "http" indicates that Web site is secure. Often, you do not see the "s" until you actually move to the order page on the Web site.
• Another way to determine if a Web site is secure is to look for a closed padlock displayed at the bottom of your screen. If that lock is open, you should assume it is not a secure site.
• The third symbol that indicates you are on a secure site is an unbroken key.
Of course, transmitting your data over secure channels is of little value to you if the merchant stores the data unscrambled. You should try to find out if the merchant stores the data in encrypted form. If a hacker is able to intrude, it cannot obtain your credit data and other personal information. Be sure to read the merchant's privacy and security policies to learn how it safeguards your personal data on its computers. (See tip 3 below.)
2. Research the Web Site Before You Order
Do business with companies you already know. If the company is unfamiliar, do your homework before buying their products. If you decide to buy something from an unknown company, start out with an inexpensive order to learn if the company is trustworthy.
Reliable companies should advertise their physical business address and at least one phone number, either customer service or an order line. Call the phone number and ask questions to determine if the business is legitimate. Even if you call after hours, many companies have a "live" answering service, especially if they don't want to miss orders. Ask how the merchant handles returned merchandise and complaints. Find out if it offers full refunds or only store credits.
You can also research a company through the Better Business Bureau (see listing below), or a government consumer protection agency like the district attorney's office or the Attorney General. Perhaps friends or family members who live in the city listed can verify the validity of the company. Remember, anyone can create a Web site.
3. Read the Web Site's Privacy and Security Policies
Every reputable online Web site offers information about how it processes your order. It is usually listed in the section entitled “Privacy Policy.” You can find out if the merchant intends to share your information with a third party or affiliate company. Do they require these companies to refrain from marketing to their customers? If not, you can expect to receive “spam” (unsolicited email) and even mail or phone solicitations from these companies.
You can also learn what type of information is gathered by the Web site, and how it is — or is not — shared with others. The online merchant’s data security practices are also often explained in the Privacy Policy, or perhaps a separate Security Policy.
However, be aware that a strong privacy policy and membership in a Web-seal program don’t guarantee that the Web merchant will protect your privacy forever. Policies can change. The company can file for bankruptcy and sell its customer data base. The Web merchant might be purchased by another company with a weaker privacy policy. And the company’s data can be subpoenaed for law enforcement investigations or civil cases. You have little control over the use of your customer data in such matters.
Given all of these uncertainties, you will want to think about the sensitivity of the data that is being compiled about you when you shop online. We cannot prescribe the best approach to take. Each consumer has a different interpretation of what is considered “sensitive.”
4. Be Aware of Cookies and Behavioral Marketing
Online merchants as well as other sites watch our shopping and surfing habits by using "cookies," an online tracking system that attaches pieces of code to our Internet browsers to track which sites we visit as we search the Web.
"Persistent" cookies remain stored on your computer while "per-session" cookies expire when you turn the browser off. Online merchants use cookies to recognize you and speed up the shopping process the next time you visit. You may be able to set your browser to disable or refuse cookies but the tradeoff may limit the functions you can perform online, and possibly prevent you from ordering online.
Privacy advocates worry that as more and more data is compiled about us — without our knowledge or active consent — it will be combined to reveal a detailed profile, even our actual identities. This data is often collected to market goods and services to us, encouraging us to buy them. There are a number of companies that specialize in targeted online advertising called "behavioral marketing." Companies say consumers benefit by being exposed to more targeted advertising and that online merchants can make more money more efficiently by targeting the right shoppers.

For example, you might buy a book on golf from Amazon, visit the Professional Golfer's Association site, purchase golf shoes at Zappos, and search online for golf courses near your home. When you do, your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) number could be used to generate golf-related ads. When you open the USA Today site to read the morning news, you may see an ad offering you a new set of clubs at a discount. When you go back to Amazon later that day you might be offered a biography of Tiger Woods.

What if your behavioral marketing profile is shared with others, without your permission? You might not care if a drug company shares your prescription drug information with a coupon service to save you money. But what if that same information were obtained by your employer, resulting in more expensive health insurance coverage?

Consumer groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to require companies to get consumers' permission (opt-in) before collecting or sharing any personal information about them, such as their computer's IP number. Many of these groups also recommend creating a "Do Not Track" list for those who do not wish to be followed online, patterned after the widely used Do Not Call list.
5. What's Safest: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Cash, or Checks?
The safest way to shop on the Internet is with a credit card. In the event something goes wrong, you are protected under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act. You have the right to dispute charges on your credit card, and you can withhold payments during a creditor investigation. When it has been determined that your credit was used without authorization, you are only responsible for the first $50 in charges. You are rarely asked to pay this charge.

We recommend that you obtain one credit card that you use only for online payments to make it easier to detect wrongful credit charges.

Make sure your credit card is a true credit card and not a debit card, a check card, or an ATM card. As with checks, a debit card exposes your bank account to thieves. Your checking account could be wiped out in minutes. Further, debit and ATM cards are not protected by federal law to the extent that credit cards are.
The “Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act” (P.L. 111-345) (signed December 29, 2010) makes it illegal for a company that sells goods or services online to give a consumer’s credit card number (or other financial account number) to a third-party for sales purposes. This practice is known as “data passing.” The Act prohibits a third-party seller from charging a consumer for any good or service, unless the seller (1) clearly and conspicuously discloses the material offer terms and that the third-party seller is not affiliated with the initial merchant and (2) receives express consent for the charge from the consumer. The third-party seller must obtain the full financial account number directly from the consumer. The initial online seller may not transfer a consumer’s financial account number to a third-party seller.
The Act also regulates “negative option” plans. A consumer must give express, informed consent before being charged for goods or services sold online through “negative option” marketing, such as “free trials” that the consumer must cancel in order to avoid being charged.

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