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Task 2 - Analysis the significance of consumer protection laws and online trading in

Canada

Consumer protection laws protect buyers of goods and services against faulty products
and misleading or illegal business activities. Historically, customers had minimal protection from
is leading sales due to the common law tenet of caveat emptor, which required consumers to
verify all transactions themselves. As modern economies grew, regulations gradually arose to
protect consumers from giant firms and activities such as adhesion contracts that common law
fraud did not address. Consumer protection legislation comprises a broad patchwork of state and
federal regulations that control everything from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to services such
as lending practices.

Online trading is a widespread way of transacting financial products through the internet.
Traders have gone online, and their platforms now offer a wide range of financial assets such as
stocks, products, and securities. Many online trading platforms include stock analysis, which
assists customers in determining the state of the stock market. This also allows them to forecast
the stock market's performance in the following days and affect their decisions. Users are drawn
to online platforms because of their simplicity of use and low commission rates. Having an
adequately funded account is required to make trades on a platform efficiently. Online trading is
exceptionally fast. As soon as an account is opened with an online dealer, trading can begin as
long as there is adequate capital in the account.

Summary of the consumer protection laws and online trading

The National Protection Law

The arrival of the Uber ride-sharing service in Canada has generated some serious concerns
about the government's role in regulating the taxi sector and its consequences for consumers.
Passengers are well-protected under the city's strictly regulated taxi regime. The consumer has no
safeguard outside of the consumer-protected Uber system. This leads to a basic logic for the
government regulating taxis and other modes of public transport in Ottawa (Canada). People are
more likely to trust the city's Uber cabs as a result of consumer protection legislation. A ride in a
Uber cab typically implies a ride with a stranger, yet knowing that the Uber is safe is reassuring
to the consumer (Colangelo, M. and Maggiolino, M., 2017, no page). On digital platforms,
sharing economy companies like Uber promote trustworthy transactions between strangers. This
adds economic and non-economic value, but it raises questions about racial bias, safety, and
fairness to rivals and workers. It addresses the current and prospective consequences. Serious
abuses may necessitate the involvement of the criminal judicial system. However, consumer
protection legislation, with its long emphasis on information and power disparity in the
marketplace, is adapted to resolving Uber asymmetries in Canada (Marin, J., 2020, p 199-213).

The National online Platform trading Policies

It is an evident reality that online trading in Canada may make a person wealthy. Making
money from online trading will never be a problem if individuals know how to go about it. An
individual must be well-versed in trading. Practicing internet trading in Canada is therefore
accessible to anyone. The expertise required to begin trading online is sometimes learned in a
couple of weeks or even days (Duch-Brown, N., 2017, no page). Real-time quotes, inventory
level screening and comparison tools, educational articles and tutorials, and market data and
research are all available on Canadian online trading platforms to help self-directed investors
navigate the markets. To address fundamental questions, online traders provide various levels of
customer assistance by phone, email, and chat. For example, charting tools are available through
CIBC's online brokerage to assist investors in identifying trends and analyzing performance. It
also features watch lists and notifications to track stock and price changes and pre-built or
customized screeners to filter investment goods based on parameters like sector, market cap,
industry, and change in price in percentage. Online traders can be less cost-effective than
traditional traders if they are confident in their judgment and understand exactly what they are
paying in fees and commissions (Dorfleitner et al., 2017, p 56- 61).

What Uber should do to comply with the identified laws

Uber has implemented data retention standards for Consumer Data, including the deletion
of personally identifiable information following account termination unless there are any legal
impediments or account difficulties. Uber has implemented and is still developing a data security
framework sufficiently designed to protect information about customers against illegal access,
usage, disclosure, or disappearance. Uber has implemented written policies and practices that
define appropriate duties and measures for disclosing, monitoring, minimizing, and resolving
reported and detected cases involving Customer Information that pose a severe risk to the
business. Privacy risks are assessed before and throughout creating new goods, services, and
activities that use Consumer Data. The Privacy Team examines contracts regarding third-party
sharing of Customer Data, and Uber has developed guidelines and a centralized mechanism for
analyzing and reacting to law enforcement demands. All employees who will have access to
Customer Data are subjected to background checks by Uber or its employment providers. Prior
to gaining access to Consumer Data, new employees must adhere to the company's policies
regarding the proper treatment of that data. Uber suspends access at the time of termination.
Uber has put in place suitable mechanisms to allow customers to evaluate, modify, and ask about
Customer Data pertaining to them. Accredited Uber clients can see their history journeys, amend
their profile information, and alter or change their payment options by logging into the
company's website or the Uber app. By completing support requests, customers can also learn
how drivers have graded them. Uber uses various strategies to communicate to employees the
standards of behavior to which the company wants them to comply. These standards are outlined
in the company's internal rules, and they have been communicated to all employees by senior
executives, the Privacy Team, and team captains. Personnel is advised via various channels that
violations of the company's policies on the proper management of Customer Data may result in
disciplinary proceedings and termination.

Uber has implemented and documented adequate procedures to safeguard Customer Data
when it is exchanged with third parties. The company's written policy prevents employees from
sharing or revealing Consumer Data to suppliers without obtaining permission from the
Management Counsel for Privacy. When working with third-party service providers that may
have access to Customer Data, Uber's regulations demand that any Consumer data made
accessible to the service supplier be the basic minimum required to deliver the service. The
company has a mechanism in place for the Privacy Team to examine transactions involving the
sharing of Customer Data to a third party.

Uber adhering to online platform/trading legislations Phishing schemes are frequent, and
Uber and its employees must develop ways to detect them. Emails from persons or firms the
company does not know should be treated with caution, especially if they appear too good to be
true. They should educate their customers those banks never request private information through
email. Another frequent fraud that disrupts online trading platforms is 'pharming.' A hacker
places a malicious advertisement at the Uber app's interface to drive customers to a false website.
It is no longer sufficient to utilize static methods such as checklists to monitor compliance with
online trade regulations. Uber should use automated technologies to monitor adherence in real-
time, providing constant assurance that the business is following rules and standards, limiting
cyber threats that may lead to a data breach, and minimizing the likelihood that human mistakes
may lead to a gap in compliance with the legislation (Grabher, G. and van Tuijl, E., 2020, p
1005-1016).

The Uber firm should appoint someone to manage and examine online trading legislation,
including updating the website's privacy notice to ensure that data is protected. This person's
responsibilities should include surveilling compliance legislations, checking for revisions to rules
and standards, and informing the rest of the company's personnel. It should also make the online
trading process less confusing for employees by providing training, clarifying the laws they must
follow, why those legislations are necessary, and how this impacts their everyday tasks. The
Uber company should back up its records. This is due to the fact that having a copy of data in a
different location allows the company to retrieve information easily and quickly in the case of
data loss. The company should develop policies for how employees may protect data. These
regulations will assist in preventing data loss caused by employees unintentionally taking
essential files outside of the firm via emails, external drives, or laptops (Garud et al., 2020, no
page).

Conclusion

Uber should strengthen its current privacy governance structures by formalizing data
rules and procedures, defining a precise plan and time scale to facilitate a safe online trading
platform for consumers. Uber should put new tools and written procedures to help automate and
further incorporate consumer protection laws and policies into the daily operations. Uber's
training and awareness program should be improved and formalized to provide personalized
training regarding consumer protection law practices related to job requirements and require
frequent refresher training and updated guidelines. Uber should continue to highlight employee
accountability for privacy protection in online trading platforms through more formal steps.
Reference

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