Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, electronic contracts
In force since .
A contract terms of service (ToS) rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Contract terms
As of .
What it requires
- Treat terms you accept by touching or clicking on an icon or other place on a computer screen as capable of forming a contract, unless you and the other party agree otherwise (s. 19).
- Do not assume that a contract is invalid or unenforceable only because it was made in electronic form (s. 19(3)).
- Treat a contract formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and an individual, or by the interaction of electronic agents, as capable of binding the parties (s. 20).
- Allow for the Act's consent rule: nobody is required to use, provide or accept information in electronic form without their consent, though consent may be inferred from conduct where there are reasonable grounds to believe it is genuine (s. 3).
What this law does
An offer, the acceptance of an offer or any other matter material to the formation or operation of a contract may be expressed 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. Subsection 19 (1) applies unless the parties agree otherwise. A contract is not invalid or unenforceable by reason only of being in electronic form.
A contract may be formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and an individual or by the interaction of electronic agents. Nothing in the Act requires a person who uses, provides or accepts information or a document to use, provide or accept it in an electronic form without the person's consent. Consent may be inferred from a person's conduct if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the consent is genuine and is relevant to the information or document.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web.