Joasia Luzak

Is All Fair in War Against Unhealthy and Unsustainable Lifestyles? The Right to Privacy vs. Modern Technology in Consumer Contracts

In their quest to curb unhealthy and unsustainable consumer lifestyles, policymakers may be tempted to use modern technology to nudge consumers to conclude only the ‘right’ contracts. However, this would create a tension between individual consumers’ autonomy and their Fundamental rights, and public interests in safeguarding consumer welfare and environment. Rather than discussing restrictions of autonomy that may occur as a result of nudging, this chapter focuses on dangers to the protection of Fundamental rights in the regulation of consumer contracts in the food and textile industry sector. It considers to what extent the (European) legislators guarantee European consumers’ constitutional right to privacy in light of technological developments that could be used to nudge consumers to choose healthy and sustainable lifestyles. The right to privacy may become a victim of the fight for better consumer lifestyles, when policymakers and traders support the use of modern technology, without introducing a well-thought-out regulation thereof. This chapter argues that since modern technologies are constantly developing, policymakers should keep a close vigil over them and not be afraid to introduce rules that would ensure consumer data safety and security.

Study on consumers’ attitudes towards Terms and Conditions (T&Cs): final report

Previous research has shown that when buying products and services online, the vast majority of consumers accept Terms and Conditions (TC for foreign online stores, a quality cue by a European consumer organisation is trusted most. The patterns were similar across Member States.

[Review of: N. Reich, H.-W. Micklitz (2014) European consumer law. - 2nd ed.]

Intersentia devotes its ‘Ius Communitatis’ Series to popularizing areas of law that have been ‘Europeanized’. Th is year, the series released the newest edition of the European Consumer Law book, previously issued under the title Understanding EU Consumer Law. Th e gradual Europeanization and harmonization of Member States’ consumer laws that began in the 1980s generated heretofore a large amount of European consumer protection measures. Th e book’s authors undertook a challenging task to present varied rules of European consumer law in a concise, structured and comprehensive way. In the fi rst chapter, Reich and Micklitz outline the position of European consumer law within primary European law, as well as discuss various issues of consumer policy, including the European legislator’s intention to replace minimum harmonization measures with full harmonization measures and the controversies related to the notion of a ‘consumer’. Th e following chapters analyse specifi c existing and impending European consumer protection measures: Micklitz discusses protection against unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising in Chapter 2, as well as the protection against unfair contract terms in Chapter 3; Micklitz and Reich present measures protecting consumers in consumer sales in Chapter 4; Rott analyses consumer credit and the proposed mortgage credit rules in Chapter 5; Micklitz illustrates liability for defective products and services in Chapter 6; Reich scrutinizes cross-border consumer protection by presenting rules on the choice of law and applicable jurisdiction in Chapter 7 and discussing the consumer’s individual and collective access to justice in Chapter 8; and, fi nally, Tonner in Chapter 9 studies the impact of the newest Consumer Rights Directive1 as well as of the E-Commerce Directive2 specifi cally on consumer contracts concluded through the internet.