When I was writing my [intlink id=”1578″ type=”page”]Effortless E-Commerce with PHP and MySQL[/intlink] book, I naturally did a bunch of research, particularly with regards to the various laws that apply. Understanding the programming behind an e-commerce site is relatively simple; understanding all the applicable laws and implications of doing e-commerce is complex. One of the sites I found to be quite useful was the U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB).
I’m currently going through some items in my “to read” folder, and am reading, or perhaps re-reading, the Better Business Bureau’s PDF titled “Security & Privacy – Made Simpler“. If you do any e-commerce, or even just Web development, it’s worth reading. It’s a 22-page document that discusses almost every facet of e-commerce, such as:
- Developing a security and privacy plan
- Creating and communicating your security and privacy policies
- Good employee screening and policies
- Common hack/theft strategies
- General Internet security
- Proper handling of customer data
- Payment processing
- What to do in the event of a data breach
- A preview of international e-commerce considerations
The document also has many resources listed in these and other categories. You can download the PDF from that page, but there are also related FAQs and more on the BBB’s site.
