Digital Fairness Act: modernizing consumer protection online
Renew Europe welcomes the Commission's proposal for a Digital Fairness Act which aims at closing gaps in consumer protection online. Renew will aim to keep this law simple and enforceable.
The Digital Fairness Act proposal takes aim at “dark patterns”, those interfaces carefully crafted to trick users into doing things. For instance, the Digital Fairness Act proposes to take-on false scarcity claims, pre-ticked add-ons and nagging pop-ups. It’ll impose a reminder before a free trial ends and before automatic renewals, with the date and the cost of continuing.
Svenja Hahn (FDP/Germany), our Coordinator in the parliamentary committee that oversees the EU's single market and consumer protection policies says : "Europeans should be able to shop, play and scroll online without being tricked. Costly pre-ticked add ons or subscriptions you can join in one click but end only in a complicated manner, are unfair and manipulative treatments of consumers. Today's proposal puts fairness between businesses and consumers in the center.
Svenja HahnRenew Europe MEP, Germany, Freie Demokratische Partei
The EU’s digital rulebook has become overly complex and often unclear or even contradictory. The DFA needs to streamline existing rules, for instance on dark patterns. It needs to ensure consistency and enforceability across existing digital legislation, removing overlaps and resolving contradictions. Only a simpler and clearer framework will benefit consumers and businesses alike.“