(Last update - 24.8.2004)
In the period of approximately six months since the coming into effect of Decree-Law no. 7/2004, of 7 January, in the context of which ANACOM was designated as the central supervising entity in the area of electronic commerce, several information requests and complaints have been received and taken care of. These have included the first request for the provisional resolution of a dispute related to the illegal nature of web content, using the innovative mechanism provided for in article 18 of the above decree-law, designed to act as a swift means of resolving disputes.
Although most ?requests for intervention? have been associated with requests for information ? which represent about 61% of the ?requests for intervention? received by this Authority in the context of electronic commerce alone ? there has been a change in this trend in the meantime. In fact, in June complaints represented about 67% of the ?requests for intervention? received, compared to 33% associated with requests for information. This change may reflect the fact that members of the public are better informed these days and more aware of their rights and interests in the context of electronic commerce.
The main concern of the public continues to be associated with the matter of unsolicited communications, more commonly known as spam, which is in line with what has been seen in other European Union member states. Following that, other subjects include privacy, provision of services and content available on the web.
With regard to the nature of those making the requests, most of the ?requests for intervention? come from individuals. Only 24% of the requests for information come from companies or other collective organisations. The situation is slightly more balanced with regard to complaints, where about 40% are submitted by companies/collective organisations, compared to 60% sent in by individuals. Nearly all of these ?requests for intervention? originate in Portugal, with only about 7% coming from abroad.
Of the ?requests for intervention? received, roughly 36% of the complaints and 4% of the requests for information were forwarded to the sectoral entities competent to deal with the matters in question, namely, the Alta Autoridade para a Comunicação Social (Higher Authority for the Media) and the Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados (National Data Protection Commission). ANACOM has handled and responded to the remaining requests.
