PPAi code of conduct
1. General
PPAinteractive (PPAi) is a UK association for online magazine publishers. It was set up in 1998 by the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA), the organisation for UK magazines and B2B media. PPAinteractive members are dedicated to providing safe, trusted environments for web users and one of the main objectives of PPAi is to set and maintain standards in the industry.
In 2002, the broader body of the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) was formed out of PPAi. PPAi is a corporate member of AOP. More information on AOP is available from www.ukaop.org.uk.
These codes have been agreed by the industry and are available either on PPAi members own websites or by link to the PPAi website, www.ppai.co.uk.
2. Basic obligations
• Information on website
Online publishers must include full contact details, including company phone and fax numbers, postal and email addresses and a contact for complaints.
• Advertising
Online advertisements, as with their print counterparts, must be legal, decent, honest and truthful, in accordance with the British Code of Advertising and Sales Promotion (the Code). Publishers agree to abide by the adjudications of the Advertising Standards Authority, who administer the Code.
PPAi members agree to follow the recommended best practice guidelines for interactive advertising recommended by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
PPAi members may agree to join the Admark scheme, an online opt-in scheme developed by Committee of Advertising Practice, to further ensure that all advertising featured on member sites is in accordance with the Code.
Special advertisement features and sponsored editorial appearing online will be in accordance with the PPA best practice guidelines.
• Mail order advertising
Where a paid-for advertisement features all the following on the same webpage, it shall be viewed as a mail order advertisement:
o description of product or service;
o price and
o method of ordering are all featured, ie the product can be ordered directly from the ad.
In order for the advertisement to be subject to the PPA Mail Order Protection Scheme (MOPS), these details should all appear in full on the webpage. PPA MOPS does not therefore apply to banner ads or links into an advertiser's site.
In all other respects such advertising will follow the terms of the PPA MOPS for print publications.
• Security
Publishers promise to make reasonable efforts to ensure, whether in-house or via third parties, that their website is secure, such that consumers' personal information and transactions remain confidential and cannot be tampered with unlawfully.
3. Email marketing
Publishers agree to adhere to the requirements of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 including the requirement not to transmit or instigate the transmission of unsolicited email communications (the Privacy Regulations).
Guidance on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations can be obtained at: http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=96
• Individual subscribers
Publishers understand that where an email is addressed to an individual subscriber (residential subscriber, a sole trader or a non limited liability partnership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) the Privacy Regulations state that:
i. You cannot transmit, or instigate the transmission of unsolicited marketing material by electronic mail to an individual subscriber unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified you that he consents for the time being to receiving such communications or a business relationship exists you and the recipient
ii. A business relationship is deemed to exist if you have obtained the contact details of the recipient in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale of a product or service to the recipient;
iii. The direct marketing material you are sending is in respect of your similar products and services; and
iv. The recipient has been given a simple means of refusing the use of his contact details for marketing purpose at the time the details were initially collected.
• Individual and corporate subscribers
In accordance with the Privacy Regulations publishers will not transmit or instigate the transmission of any marketing by electronic mail (whether unsolicited or solicited) to any subscriber (whether corporate or an individual) where:
i. The identity of the sender has been disguised or concealed; or
ii. A valid address to which the recipient can send an opt out request has not been provided
iii. When sending marketing material to the employee of a company which includes personal data (i.e. the marketer knows the name of the person they are contacting - joe.bloggs@aop.co.uk) publishers will respect that the individual has a fundamental and enforceable right under the Section 11 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to request that a company cease sending them marketing material.
iv. Publishers must ensure that a list of those who do not wish to receive such communications is kept and regularly updated. Publishers are encouraged to promote this practice to list buyers.
Email recipients should be offered the option of receiving emails in text as opposed to HTML, either through automatic process or by request. The option to unsubscribe should be clearly marked on every email.
4. Accessibility
PPAi members agree to adhere to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 to make reasonable efforts to ensure that websites are accessible to all users. Publishers should comply with the Disability Rights Commission Codes of Practice, and should work towards meeting at minimum level one of the Web Accessibility Initiative’s technical standards.
In accordance with recommendations by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, publishers will establish an accessibility policy approved and publicly backed by senior management within an organisation. At a more technical level publishers will ensure that navigation links on a website are easy to use, that the correct size and colour of text is used to increase legibility and that images contain an 'alternative text' (alt-text) attribute so that they can be compliant with speech synthesis software.
5. Data Protection Act and personal data
PPAi members will abide by the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. Specifically, all members collecting personal data from website users agree to have a privacy statement which includes the following details:
a) an option to 'opt-out' of further use of personal details - usually a 'tick box';
b) the identity of the data user for whom the information is being obtained (ie the publisher);
c) the purposes for which personal data containing such information is to be held or used;
d) where 'sensitive' data is being collected (eg information on a user's race, sexuality, politics or criminal record) the user must give specific consent for this information to be collected and used;
e) any disclosure of personal data likely to be made to third parties.
Publishers will ensure that users are informed if tracking technology is used such as 'cookies' and users should be given the opportunity to refuse the use of tracking technology as detailed in the Privacy Regulations.
6. Distance Selling Regulations
Publishers will abide by the terms of the Distance Selling Regulations 2000, and any other UK consumer protection laws.
Specifically, publishers will include details of:
a) the right to cancel the contract and how to exercise this right;
b) any restrictions including how long the offer remains valid and any cooling off periods;
c) the terms and conditions of the sale contract;
d) internal complaints handling systems;
e) the PPA dispute resolution service
Additionally, publishers must provide full pre-contractual details such as product description, price, and any additional taxes or duties. PPAi members agree to follow the PPA Best practice guidelines for distance selling.
7. Dispute resolution service
PPA has appointed the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators to provide qualified ombudsmen in the event of a dispute between a consumer and a publisher regarding goods or services provided by the publisher, where no satisfactory resolution has been achieved by means of the publisher's internal complaints system.
Publishers agree to abide by the decision of the ombudsman.
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