The European Commission announced a sweeping set of updates to consumer law on Wednesday to protect European Union citizens from “harmful digital practices”—whether while online shopping, browsing social media, or doing their Duolingo lesson.
\n\nWithin the package, the Commission unveiled its Digital Fairness Act to address harmful practices online. Proposed rules include banning dark patterns—practices which manipulate consumers into making decisions they would not otherwise make, such as falsely claiming a product is running low. They will also curb dynamic pricing by ticket retailers, like Ticketmaster; force influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product; outrule personalized advertising and pricing targeting minors or taking advantage of sensitive data; make digital subscriptions easier to cancel; and give consumers a right to interact with human customer service.
\n\nThe package “represents the most significant reform of EU consumer protection rules in more than 20 years” according to Michael McGrath, the EC Consumer Protection Commissioner, noting that existing consumer rules were developed before ecommerce, the attention economy, and use of personal data for marketing took off. “The digital fairness act will make sure the digital economy works for consumers and not against them,” he said at a press conference.
\n\nThe…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/