LONDON, 25 September 2007 – Websites are risking liability claims and their organisation’s reputation by ignoring the human element in managing content quality.
Speaking today to web professionals at the ‘Streamlining web content publishing and approval’ conference, Sanjay Morzaria, web content manager at Aon, is urging his peers to rethink the human element in web technology and introduce ‘service level agreements’ for relevant employees. This will help ensure accuracy of information and miminise risks to the business.
Aon’s Global Risk Survey 2007 shows that companies view damage to reputation and third party liability as the first and third top risks to their organisation. Inaccurate information on the website can affect both of these through:
- regulatory compliance through bodies such as the Financial Services Authority;
- legal observance from Disability Discrimination Act and Data Protection Act to copyright and E-commerce laws;
- brand & reputation protection;
- defamation;
- breach of privacy.
Sanjay comments: “Spellcheck may pick up typos but it can’t tell if your website is legally compliant or if the copy is libellous. This is where you need skilled people to vet the content and take responsibility. Companies tend to rely on their content management systems to manage accuracy as they do not realise the extent of the damage that could be caused without human intervention.”
To supplement the use of technology, Sanjay has designed and launched formal service level agreements (SLA) for content owners as a quality assurance tool. He adds: “By formalising the process at a management level, you are placing a responsibility on content owners that is far more powerful than technology alone. The SLA will also cover the need to deal with customer queries promptly and compliance with the Data Protection Act. The result is that content owners take particular care in following your company guidelines and best practice when publishing content. More importantly, your customers receive a much richer interaction with your website.”
Steps to creating service level agreements are:
- create a robust process with management on approving content and reacting to enquiries;
- agree SLA wording depending on your business culture and employees, bearing in mind technical competence;
- achieve management ownership of SLAs and set out guidelines to ensure individuals understand why the process is so important.
Jon Upshall, broking director at Aon Global, explains why he is advising clients to seriously consider the risks around their websites: “We’re seeing music and video websites with user generated content hit by multi million pound lawsuits but corporate sites are equally at risk. Organisations need to use good risk management, such as legal peer review and service level agreements, to control content in their communications channels.
“This is even more crucial as websites are excluded from typical public/products liability insurance policies. This leaves companies unable to claim for legal expenses or any other costs as a result of inaccurate content or copyright infringement, unless specific media liability coverage is purchased.”
About Aon
Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC), ranked by A.M. Best as the number one global insurance brokerage based on brokerage revenues and voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm by the readers of Business Insurance, is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 43,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.
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Aon Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only.
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