Purpose - The lack of trust in online transactions is one of the main reasons for the relatively low electronic commerce adoption, especially in developing and emerging economies such as those of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Design/methodology/approach – The author conducts a content analysis of the privacy policies and security mechanisms of a sample of companies from the six countries of the GCC which are engaged in electronic commerce transactions.

Findings – It is found that a large percentage of sites with privacy statements address the issue of notice and awareness, while none of the sites has a provision to inform users in case of any complaint, as to whom they should address their complaint, what is the arbitration and settlement methods, who is the enforcement body and finally what are the penalties and sanctions applicable.

Originality/value – The paper has a number of value adding characteristics; first, it attacks a subject that has been close to being ignored in the literature, that is the issue of electronic commerce in developing economies; second, the paper is unique in that it addresses the use of electronic commerce in the six countries of the GCC (the author knows of no other study done on the region); and, third, the paper concludes with a set of recommendations to policy makers in the GCC, to help them increase consumer trust in online transactions and increase the rat of electronic commerce diffusion in their economies.