When your grandparents were young and needed new clothes for school, they headed to a local store to buy them. If they wanted a comic book, they went to a bookstore and during the holidays everyone did their shopping at toy and department stores. Nowadays, all of these purchases and many more can easily be done online. In fact, you might have done the vast majority of your recent holiday gift purchasing on your laptop from the comfort of your couch.
While buying products and services online is second nature to most of us, we might not think about how much work the e-commerce giants do behind the scenes to maintain security and safety. With that in mind, let’s look at how online businesses protect our data, deal with the sales of restricted items and keep their sites secure:
SSL Encryption
SSL encryption is a vital part of processing online transactions and is one that many retailers use. In english, SSL encryption basically means that the data will stay between the buyer and the online merchant, so that your personal info cannot be intercepted. If you pay for a purchase at an e-commerce giant with PayPal, it uses SSL encryption, which is set up to keep your data including your name, address, bank account info and more safe and secure.
Two-step Verification
Also known as two-factor authorization or 2FA, the two-step verification process is a tool that e-commerce merchants use to maintain security. This combines using something the shopper knows, like a password, with a new added layer, like a code that is texted to her, to gain access to the account. For Dropbox, keeping their customers’ data safe and secure is a top priority, so they added the two-step verification as a feature for their users. “We think that this is the single most effective step Dropbox users can take to protect themselves and their data,” noted a blog on the Dropbox site. Currently, around 1.5 million Dropbox users have the two-factor authorization enabled on their account.
Dealing with Restricted Items
Online merchants cannot sell anything and everything — there are certain items that are either restricted or prohibited. Classic examples of restricted items include beer and firearms. To make sure they stay within the letter of the law, e-commerce retailers must set up foolproof systems on their website. For example, Cabela’s sells a wide variety of firearms on its site, but to ensure they are not shipping them to a 12-year-old, shoppers must follow the very clear rules that are detailed on the site. Once somebody finds the firearm that he or she wants, they select “order online” and then must enter in their zip code. Shoppers are only allowed to add items to their cart that they are permitted to purchase where they live. Next, shoppers are prompted to choose the location where they would like to pick up their new firearm in person; after reviewing and agreeing to the Online Firearm Ordering Agreement, a shopper can complete the checkout process. Alcohol is also a restricted item that e-commerce merchants must handle carefully — the same federal and state laws that apply in retail stores carry over to websites that sell beer, wine and hard alcohol. It is the duty of e-commerce merchants to set up an effective and accurate system that can verify the age of potential shoppers to be sure they are 21 or older.
Unfortunately, the threat of identity theft is not going away any time soon, and there will always be shoppers who are trying to “get away” with something by purchasing items they are not qualified to buy online. By staying up to date with as many security tools as possible, shopping online will continue to be a convenient and safe way to get what we need.
