Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 1978 (EFTA)
The EFTA was ratified by the US Congress in 1978 and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. The main purpose of the law is to “provide a basic framework establishing the rights, liabilities, and responsibilities of participants in electronic fund transfer systems” (IT Law, N. D.). The EFTA provides consumers with a means for challenging unlawful dealings in their accounts and having their money refunded in case an error occurs from any activities related to electronic funds transfer. Among other things EFTA does is to limit customer’s responsibility in electronic transfer activities that they do not consent to. If the consumer finds out about the loss or theft of cards used to make electronic fund transfers and informs their bank or any other financial service provider within two working days, then their liability is reduced by at most 50 dollars or the amount that was transferred from their account before the notice was given, whichever is lower (IT Law, N. D.).
The Electronic Fund Transfer Act was signed into law due to the emergence of electronic fund transfer system that had been in development for many years. Although the technology gained popularity in the 1920s, it was not to be adopted by mainstream financial institutions until the 1960s with an increasing demand for the service by consumers, banks and other financial institutions. However, the system had to be developed further due to the security risks associated with its use in the financial sector. Consequently, a body known as the Transportation Data Coordinating Committee (TDCC) was created to oversee further development and adoption of EFT. By 1973, the TDCC had started working on reducing the negative aspects of electronic transfer of funds. After a few years of trials, the system was adopted by mainstream financial institutions. However, the system still had some security loops.
The electronic funds transfer system provided several advantages such as removing the need for paper-based verification of financial transactions and instant transfer of funds between various financial systems. However, the system was still faced with several challenges, the most dominant of which was the potential loss or theft of the credit card or its details. This could result into the loss of substantial amounts of money since the system did not require the physical presence of the account owner to makes financial transactions, all that was required was the card details. Other errors associated with electronic systems such as erroneous transfer of funds could also lead to loss of huge sums of money by customers. EFTA was adopted to prevent these losses from occurring to the consumers as it limits the consumers’ liability in case of unauthorized transactions in their accounts. Under the EFTA, consumers are protected from erroneous fund transfers and unauthorized transactions. Besides, finance companies are required to provide customers with documentations of all financial transactions in their accounts regularly so that the consumers can establish whether there is a discrepancy in the records.
The Cable Communications Policy Act, 1984 (CCPA)
The CCPA was passed by Congress in 1984 with an aim of protecting consumers’ private data from cable service providers, enhance competition between several cable service providers, and regulate the cable industry. The CCPA was an amendment of the Communications Act of 1934 and established a comprehensive system that prohibited cable companies from collecting “personally identifiable information” related to any customer without prior permission, unless the information was important in service provision or detecting reception of unlawful services (University of Miami, 2005). Under this act, cable service providers must detail the forms of personal information that may be collected, the uses of such information, identification of persons that would have access to the collected information and the “nature, frequency and purpose” of any revelation, how long the information would be collected and the customer’s right to use legal avenues if the laws relating to the contract are not followed.
Prior to the CCPA, cable communication had been in use since the 18th century albeit with limited abilities that did not pose any security risks. However, with advancements in technology, cables were now used in various systems that exposed users to several security breaches. Cable technologies were now used in the provision of cable television channels and phone services. In these applications, users’ personal information could be accessed by the cable service providers. This information included the television channels subscribed to and the frequency of watching specific channels. Cable companies provided channels for public, private, educational, government, and commercial use. Users felt that they had a right to watch the channels they subscribed to as long as they were used in the specified manner, including obscene channels. Since the cable providers had access to all information relating to the channels they subscribed to, this information could be collected and revealed to any third party without prior consent of the users. The CCPA was adopted to prevent this form of disclosure. Since the Act encompasses services described as “other services,” it includes other forms of cable communication such as “radio and wire communication,” and extends to cable broadband internet connections and direct broadcast satellite connections (University of Miami, 2005).
References
IT Law. (N D). Electronic Fund Transfer Act of 1978. Web.
University of Miami (2005). Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (CCPA). Web.