Encouraging electronic commerce and protecting consumers need not be competing goals. The bill authorizes businesses to replace paper records, such as warranties, contracts, and notices, with electronic records regardless of whether the transaction is conducted online or offline and regardless of whether the consumer has the equipment and ability to access information electronically. Paper disclosures required by law are designed to serve consumers' interests by providing them with information critical to making informed choices in the marketplace, understanding their rights and obligations during commercial transactions, and enforcing their rights when transactions go sour. Consumers can potentially benefit from receiving information electronically. Electronic signatures are provided the same legal status as handwritten signatures without any consumer protections.
Consumers can potentially benefit from receiving information electronically.
This bill would eviscerate important consumer protections in state and federal law, as well as interfere with a state's rights to protect its own consumers without imposing any protections against misuse, mistake, or fraud. S.761 would preempt every state and federal law that requires a paper writing to be provided to a consumer. In each case, an electronic record could be provided instead. State requirements that certain information be given to consumers in writing often are adopted because of a history and pattern of harm to their citizens. Required paper notices and documents are critically important to ensure that consumers are apprized of their rights and obligations.