CONFIANZA ONLINE is a self-regulatory system that was born with an integral vocation and with the aim of joining all the possible professional initiatives to promote and defend the development of advertising and commerce in the new media.

It covers commercial communications as well as contractual issues related to commercial transactions that the entities make with the consumers on the Internet and on other electronic and interactive media.

Data protection is also included in the scope of CONFIANZA ONLINE’s code and self-regulatory System, since this is a sensitive area that demands and deserves a special safeguard in the development of both advertising activities and e-commerce with consumers.

Furthermore, it also focuses on minor and adolescent protection, as well as on issues of accessibility, usability and security.

• Commercial communications
• Commerce / financial transactions with consumers and security
• Minor protection
• Accessibility, usability and reliability
• Privacy and data protection

HOW DOES IT WORK?

CONFIANZA ONLINE self-regulatory system is based on four pillars:

1°) The Ethical Code on E-commerce and Interactive Advertising.

2°) A mechanism for the application of the rules established in the Code, with the aim of deciding the complaints submitted. This alternative dispute resolution system (ADR) is based on the activity of two bodies: the Autocontrol’s Complaints Committee (called Jurado de la Publicidad), for all matters related to commercial communications, privacy, data protection and minor protection, and the National Consumer Arbitration Council (Junta Arbitral Nacional de Consumo), for all the issues related to electronic commerce (contractual transacions) with consumers in the new media, preceded by AECEM’s Mediation Committee.

AUTOCONTROL’s Complaints Committee (Jurado de la Publicidad de Autocontrol) was set up in 1996, and the 25% of its members are appointed annually by common consent between AUTOCONTROL and the National Institute on Consumer Affairs (Instituto Nacional de Consumo). The AUTOCONTROL’s Complaints Committee is composed of independent and renowned prestigious experts in the fields of Law, Economy and Commercial Communications. Its work as alternative dispute resolution system for solving complaints is guided by its own Rules of Practice. From its creation until May 2009, it has solved more than 2140 advertising complaints.

The National Consumer Arbitration Council is the Spanish arbitration body on consumer affairs. It depends on the National Institute on Consumer Affairs, the Spanish statutory authority on consumer affairs. It has been operating since the enactment of the Royal Decree 636/1993 that regulates the arbitration system on consumer affairs. A Court of arbitrators is responsible for the complaints resolution. The procedure established in the aforementioned Royal Decree, is based on the voluntary commitment made by both parties: if they accept the arbitration, the decision –called arbitral award- has the same enforceability as a court sentence. The Council will only deal with the complaints on contractual aspects in those cases where preceded by the mediation process by AECEM’s Mediation Committee has not reached a satisfactory solution. The Council should solve the complaint according to the rules included in the CONFIANZA ONLINE code.

3°) A Technical Secretariat CONFIANZA ONLINE’s Technical Secretariat – Pl. Manuel Gómez Moreno, s/n (Edif. Bronce) 28020 Madrid – Phone: +34.91.309.13.47 – Fax: +34.91.402.98.24 – e-mail: secretaria@confianzaonline.es – . The Technical Secretariat is the responsible for the complaint procedure and the daily administration of this self regulatory system, including the Trustmark management. All the complaints made by breaches of the CONFIANZA ONLINE’s Code will be sent to the Secretariat.

4°) And a Trustmark that enables the identification of the adhered entities to this self-regulatory system.

For further information about the management of the CONFIANZA ONLINE System you can access to our Activity Annual Reports:

• Memoria de actividad 2003
• Memoria de actividad 2004
• Memoria de actividad 2005
• Memoria de actividad 2006
• Memoria de actividad 2007
• Memoria de actividad 2008
• Memoria de actividad 2009

WHAT DOES THIS SELF-REGULATORY SYSTEM OFFER?

CONFIANZA ONLINE provides companies and new media users with a specific Code of practice, the “CONFIANZA ONLINE’s Ethical Code”, as well as a Trustmark. Through this Trustmark, to be inserted in the adhered entities websites, these entities can show their responsibility commitments in their commercial communications and contractual transactions with consumers. Adhered entities are offering Internet users more guarantees, increasing in this way consumers’ trust in the new media.

On the other hand, in a field as dynamic and changing as electronic media, the capability to adapt to technological, economic and social changes is essential. In this context, a self-regulatory system such as CONFIANZA ONLINE offers some remarkable advantages with regard to the conventional dispute resolution mechanisms, such as a speedy reaction, flexibility and vocation of co-ordination and integration at supra-national level. These advantages represent a way for overcoming the problems deriving from the globalism and absence of territoriality control on the Net, which the legislation and courts have outstanding difficulties to tackle with.

All these issues are extremely important for a proper development of all the benefits that the new media offer.

Besides these advantages, the adhered entities to CONFIANZA ONLINE have presence, in the web adhered entities list and in the different public relations actions that are organised periodically:

• March 2004: “The consume arbitration is incorporated into the e-commerce buying and selling operations”. Click here.
• April 2004: “The e-commerce self-regulation system has reached one hundred companies”. Click here.
• March 2005: “The autonomous communities will grant and withdraw the Confianza online public sign”. Click here.
• September 2005: “Confianza Online, the public sign of Confianza en línea”. Click here.
• January 2006: “The Spanish Data Protection Agency has registered the new Code on Interactive Advertising and e-commerce of Confianza Online as a Standard Code of Conduct”. Click here.
• December 2006: “250 webs have incorporated Confianza Online’s Trustmark to energize the e-commerce”. Click here.
• June 2007: “Confianza Online has overcome the 150 adhered companies”. Click here.
• November 2007: “Internet sale means a 0,33% of the complaints and queries that the Consumer Associations receive”. aquí.
• December 2007: “Confianza Online has grown to currently become the reference Trustmark on security on the Internet”. Click here.