Dark Patterns undermining Digital Fairness? – A possible new “Digital Fairness Act” from a fundamental rights perspective — An examination of reform suggestions against the background of the EU fundamental rights legal framework
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Jürgen Kühling
Abstract
The article analyses the reform proposals emerging from the European Commission’s recent fitness check of core EU consumer protection directives - namely the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD), and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD) - regarding “dark patterns”. Building on our analysis that confirmed the general adequacy of the existing legal framework (CRI0079522), this second part shifts focus to the underlying fundamental rights implications of further regulatory tightening. Following an introduction (I.), the article outlines the tension between consumer protection, entrepreneurial freedom on a fundamental rights level (II.), and explores to what extent the current framework can accommodate proposed reforms without upsetting this balance (III.). The article closes with concluding results (IV.).
© 2025 by Verlag Dr. Otto Schmidt KG, Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 58, 50968 Köln.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Table of Contents
- Imprint
- Articles
- Dark Patterns undermining Digital Fairness? – A possible new “Digital Fairness Act” from a fundamental rights perspective — An examination of reform suggestions against the background of the EU fundamental rights legal framework
- US E-Discovery and EU Compliance: A Clash of Laws — A guideline for German companies to meet both European and US requirements
- Dark Patterns Undermining Digital Fairness? – The Legal Framework Against Manipulative Designs — Analysising the impact of the three key EU directives for consumer protection on the use of dark patterns
- Case Law
- USA: Insuffient Evidence for Irreparable Harm by Training AI with Copyrighted Material
- UK: Strict Limits on Reverse Engineering and Risks of Bypassing Safeguards in Software Development
- China: Cross-Border Data Transfer Without Consent
- USA: The Human Concept of “Author”
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Table of Contents
- Imprint
- Articles
- Dark Patterns undermining Digital Fairness? – A possible new “Digital Fairness Act” from a fundamental rights perspective — An examination of reform suggestions against the background of the EU fundamental rights legal framework
- US E-Discovery and EU Compliance: A Clash of Laws — A guideline for German companies to meet both European and US requirements
- Dark Patterns Undermining Digital Fairness? – The Legal Framework Against Manipulative Designs — Analysising the impact of the three key EU directives for consumer protection on the use of dark patterns
- Case Law
- USA: Insuffient Evidence for Irreparable Harm by Training AI with Copyrighted Material
- UK: Strict Limits on Reverse Engineering and Risks of Bypassing Safeguards in Software Development
- China: Cross-Border Data Transfer Without Consent
- USA: The Human Concept of “Author”
