Electronic Transactions Act, electronic contracts
S.A. 2001, c. E-5.5, ss. 27-29
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived . Publisher's page: https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/acts/e05p5.pdfIn force since .
A contract terms of service (ToS) rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Contract terms
As of .
What it requires
- Treat an offer, an acceptance or any other matter material to the formation or operation of a contract as capable of being expressed by information or a record in electronic form, or by an act intended to result in electronic communication such as touching or clicking on an appropriate icon or other place on a computer screen, unless the parties otherwise agree (s. 27).
- Treat a contract formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and a person, or by the interaction of electronic agents, as capable of binding the parties (s. 28).
- If your electronic agent deals with people, give them an opportunity to prevent or correct a material error in the electronic information or record used in the transaction; where it does not, the transaction has no legal effect if the person promptly notifies you of the error and, where consideration was received, returns or destroys it as you instruct or otherwise deals with it reasonably and does not benefit materially from it (s. 29).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Unless the parties otherwise agree, an offer, the acceptance of an offer or any other matter that is material to the formation or operation of a contract may be expressed by means of information or a record in electronic form, or by an act that is intended to result in electronic communication, such as touching or clicking on an appropriate icon or other place on a computer screen, or speaking.
A contract may be formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and a person or by the interaction of electronic agents. An electronic agent is a computer program or any other electronic means used to initiate an act or to respond to electronic information, records or acts, in whole or in part, without review by an individual at the time of the initiation or response.
An electronic transaction between a person and another person's electronic agent has no legal effect if the person makes a material error, the agent gives no opportunity to prevent or correct it, the person promptly notifies the other person on becoming aware of the error, and, where consideration is received as a result of the error, the person returns or destroys it in accordance with the other person's instructions or otherwise deals with it in a reasonable manner and does not benefit materially from it.
The Act does not limit the operation of an enactment or other law that expressly authorizes, requires, prohibits or regulates the use of information or records in electronic form. The Act was proclaimed in force on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web.