Category Archives: Consumer Law
Katharine Kemp, ‘Driving Blind: The Unexamined Privacy Risks of Connected Cars’
ABSTRACT Connected cars are an emerging category of consumer vehicles marketed for features ranging from automatic SOS calls in the event of an accident and notifications when a child is left in the back seat, to the ability to cool a hot car in advance or take ‘selfies’ of the driver whenever they smile. At […]
Daniel Susser, ‘Exploitation in the Platform Age’
ABSTRACT In this chapter I consider a common refrain among critics of digital platforms: big tech ‘exploits’ us. It gives voice to a shared sense that technology firms are somehow mistreating people – taking advantage of us, extracting from us – in a way that other data-driven harms, such as surveillance and algorithmic bias, fail […]
‘European “consumer” notion: Continued broad application in 2024’
Happy New Year to all our Readers! A couple of posts ago we have commented on the changes that the Compass Banca judgment may bring to the average consumer benchmark (see ‘Who is the average consumer? …’), although we will need to carefully follow the practical application of this judgment by national courts. Still, it […]
Ben Mayfield, ‘Death for the Minnows: Private Landlords and the Pendulum of Regulation’
ABSTRACT Recent housing tragedies and scandals such as Grenfell Tower fire, and the death of a child in Rochdale due to mould, cast a long shadow over the provision of housing and have brought several deficiencies of the private rented sector into the light. Security of tenure and rent control in particular have become significant […]
Sydney Rose, ‘Individualized Ideological Enclosures: The Generative AI Crisis And How Consumers Can Reclaim Their Feeds’
… This paper explores how data collection and behavioral prediction impact consumers’ ecosystems and potential existing solutions for situations where the goals of the consumer diverge from those of the platform. In addition, this paper is intended to spur further scholarship into possible solutions to this narrow concern. After laying the foundation, this paper lays […]
Vanessa Mak, ‘Redefining equality in European contract law: protecting consumer interests in a post-consumer society’
ABSTRACT Consumers have in law been defined as the weaker parties in a transaction. Contract laws have integrated consumer protection with a view to balancing the interests of the parties, ensuring equal bargaining power and to some extent substantive fairness in contractual relations. Rules of consumer protection have therefore, from a contract lawyer’s perspective, been […]
Twigg-Flesner and Howells, ‘Adapting Consumer Law to New Technologies’
ABSTRACT The task for this chapter is to examine how well consumer law is able to adapt to the use of new technologies in consumer-focused applications. Our central thesis is that a methodical approach is needed, comprising several steps and admitting different responses to different technological developments. The context for our discussion will be applications […]
Andrew Keane Woods, ‘The New Social Contracts’
ABSTRACT Contracts rule our digital world. Platform terms of service determine speech rights, privacy rights, and much more. This is no accident – from the very beginning, the US model of internet governance was explicitly built around private ordering. In this context, it is worth asking what contract law and contract scholarship have to say […]
Cheng-chi (Kirin) Chang, ‘Destination ADR: Chartering a New Course for Airline Passenger Disputes’
ABSTRACT Airline passenger rights in the United States lag behind protections in the European Union (EU), leaving consumers vulnerable. Since the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act (ADA), limited federal oversight and reliance on airline contracts have weakened recourse for passengers facing issues like disruptions, mishandled baggage, and unfair practices. The complex regulatory landscape and high costs […]
Ayres and Klass, ‘How to Use the New Restatement of Consumer Contracts: A Guide for Judges’
ABSTRACT In the absence of major legislation or regulatory action, US consumers will continue to look to courts and the common law for protection when businesses engage in unfair and deceptive contracting practices. In May 2022, the American Law Association approved the Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts. This new Restatement provides a valuable resource […]