USING YOUR CREDIT CARD ON THE INTERNET

For our online users, TIME World Wide on Pathfinder on the World Wide Web and the Time News Center on CompuServe provide not only news and analysis but also an ongoing forum in which they can debate the issues of the day. Two weeks ago, we asked for users' views on the following question:

Is it safe to conduct business, including making credit-card purchases, on the Internet?

Here are some of the responses we got:

Using a credit card is not safe no matter where you use it. The Internet is about as safe as any other place of business. The next time you're in a restaurant and give your credit card to some kid who's barely old enough to drive, think about what's happening to it in the back room. I was once charged twice for work done at a service station. The best thing to do is check your credit-card statements every time. That was the only way I was able to correct my problem. RICHARD COUGHLIN Omaha, Nebraska

I find use of credit cards over the Internet to have been safe so far. I do my business over "secure servers" but recognize that there are limitations to all security. I have locks on my house, but it's been burglarized. I live near an airport runway, and no planes have hit my neighborhood, but they could. Most of us automobile drivers know that in some small statistical sense, we could be killed or injured in a car accident, but we keep on driving anyway.

I am not worrying about security on the Net. I find it interesting that folks who use cordless phones to call the qvc shopping network on TV worry about Internet security when they can be hacked by inexpensive hardware scanners. Nothing will ever be totally secure and safe, but little is totally unsafe and insecure; it's all comparative. ROGER DAY Kent, Washington

I am a proponent of using a secure system for banking services wherever you may be so that others may not use your information. Computer systems should look into ways to identify individuals through interactive methods so that a copy of the individual's information always remains confidential. CRAIG VAN VESSEM Romulus, New York

Conducting business on the internet can only be as safe as each party involved in a transaction makes it. Is it 100% safe? No, but neither is any other form of transaction. Can it be as safe as other business mediums? Yes, but only as long as those using the Internet for business try to protect themselves. AL THOMPSON Virginia Beach, Virginia

As a handicapped person, i've had to make some sacrifices. For example, I gave up the privilege of standing in line at the counter to buy something only to have the cashier pick up the phone just when I got to the head of the line. I've done lots of Net shopping and have never (yet) had a problem using credit cards.

I must say my PC and modem have given me access to things I never dreamed of even before I learned I had multiple sclerosis. I would most certainly be using those resources even if I weren't handicapped. But I am, and shopping on the Net has become critical to the preservation of my independence and my energy. Now, if I could only get Bill Gates and his buddies to clean my house. MEG MCCANN Castro Valley, California

I have purchased a few items on the Net. The sites were never advertised as being "safe" for transactions; however, in my opinion, it would be easier for someone to obtain a receipt or carbon copy of a "conventional" credit-card transaction or for a dishonest employee to steal your credit-card number than to go to the trouble of invading your "privacy" on the Net. And only a small percentage of people on the Net have the knowledge of how to tap someone's credit-card account illegally. EDWARD L. WENTZ III Oak Ridge, North Carolina

Anything that is truly confidential I would never post on the Net, or anywhere else for that matter. I would send it directly to the party I wanted to get the information. The Internet is like a big open playground, and the real professional hacker can get into just about anything. Never send anything over the Net that is highly sensitive. Never! The public at large may have access to it. RAY OLIVA Pleasanton, California

Hackers exist, and they do prey on people naive enough to think doing business and exchanging credit-card numbers on the Net are completely safe. However, it is a quick and easy way to conduct business. MOLLY K. DOUGLAS Cumberland, Maryland

It is as safe to use credit cards on the Internet as it is to do business by mail. The chances of being "ripped off" other than by the "advertiser," even without encryption, are trivial. Should it happen, there are numerous safeguards that limit a buyer's liability. My credit- card company, for instance, monitors my pattern of buying and calls me for verification if there are suspicious variations. JIMMIE R. MITCHELL Nokesville, Virginia

It's safe to say "let the buyer beware" applies to the situation of doing business on the Net. A few more safeguards would be desirable, but maybe we're trying to include too much and do too much in this medium. LAUREN BUTLER Kansas City, Missouri

When using a credit-card number on the Net, one goes on pure trust. I am willing to make that act of trust. But I am under no illusions that the card cannot possibly be misused. (The Rev.) JAMES LASSEN-WILLEMS Ojai, California

To express your views on other questions we post online, go to TIME's home page on the World Wide Web http://pathfinder.com/time and click on Message Boards. From that site, you can select the CyberForum message area. On CompuServe, go to the TIME Online Forum (GO TIMEFOR) and click on the Weekly Feedback section. To order CompuServe, call (800) 246-2247.