Why and how you should Back the Act

One of the wonderful things about the internet is feedback, whether you get it from your customers, partners or, in our case, you the viewer.

It's been encouraging to see how many people are responding to our Back the Act campaign - which seeks to promote secure ecommerce - so soon after its launch.

Without exception every respondent has supported our stance, even though some come from industries such as banking and pharmaceuticals which traditionally prefer self-regulation.

Many responses were strong - one respondent called for wide-ranging fines that could consequently fund the Data Protection Commissioner's efforts to make UK ecommerce secure.

Others called for audits on ecommerce sites, in line with the BS7799 information security standard.

To answer the first call, fines may be the only way some companies will take the Data Protection Act seriously, but to channel the proceeds back to the DPC is questionable. We want a company's ecommerce activities to be safe, but not at the mercy of a marauding regulator prosecuting to raise funds.

And as for an audit body, we already have a plethora of ecommerce kitemark schemes, but none appear to guarantee standards.

Other respondents had no suggestions - they simply wanted to know what they can do to support the campaign.

But, we want names put to the campaign so silicon.com can go to the government with a strong mandate to demand the DPC gets the resources it requires. If you can do it as a representative of your company or organisation, so much the better.

But a watchdog with teeth is only part of the solution.

Any law is only enforceable because the majority of the populace respects it and freely abides by it.

silicon.com says, as IT professionals, demand your own organisation has a secure web site.

As procurement officers, demand your suppliers' websites are secure.

As CEOs and CFOs, make a virtue out of including a security guarantee in your financial reports.

And as investors, demand that companies you invest in and through include safeguards in their reports. Boycott them if they don't, and use the internet to register your dissatisfaction.

It's only when insecure ecommerce is viewed with absolute zero tolerance that we can Back the Act to the hilt.