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
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Jürgen Kühling
Abstract
The article offers an analysis of the current legal framework governing manipulative design and focusses in particular on the three key directives known as the backbone of EU consumer protection law: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD), and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD). These three directives have been central to the fitness check by the European Commission evaluating whether and to what extent this current legal framework continues to ensure fairness for consumers in a digital environment. After a brief introduction (I.), the article first juxtaposes “digital fairness” and “dark patterns” in an effort to carve out the underlying notion of fairness (II.), before assessing each of the three directives in turn regarding their impact on “dark patterns” (III.) and summarising the results (IV.).
© 2025 by Verlag Dr. Otto Schmidt KG, Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 58, 50968 Köln.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- 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”
Artikel in diesem Heft
- 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”
