TACD today joins 200+ signatories in a letter to President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to call upon the European Commission to follow through with its proposal of the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) despite the growing industry pressure to deregulate consumer law.
Consumer groups underline that people are routinely nudged, steered, and sometimes trapped by design features such as dark patterns, addictive interfaces, misleading influencer marketing, and unfair personalisation based on extensive tracking of their behaviour. These practices exploit information asymmetries and consumer vulnerabilities, including those of children and other at‑risk groups, while existing EU consumer rules have not kept pace with increasingly sophisticated digital tactics.
The joint letter calls on the Commission to ensure the Digital Fairness Act:
- Establishes clear, enforceable bans on the most harmful manipulative practices, including dark patterns and addictive design features.
- Introduces strong fairness‑by‑design obligations so that services are built from the outset to respect consumers’ autonomy, privacy, and ability to make informed choices.
- Provides special protection for minors and other vulnerable consumers, who face heightened risks from aggressive targeting and persuasive technologies.
- Closes gaps and streamlines the existing EU framework so that enforcement against unfair commercial practices is effective and coherent across the Single Market.
More:
- Understanding Europe’s digital and competition laws, TACD explainer
About TACD:
The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) has championed the consumer perspective in transatlantic decision making since 1998. It is our mission to ensure that EU and U.S. policy and regulatory dialogues are well-informed about the impacts of policy decisions on consumers and citizens and promotes their well-being and rights on both sides of the Atlantic.
The TACD network enables members to strengthen their advocacy and enforcement capacities by facilitating sharing of intelligence, best practices, and coordinated messaging to policy and regulatory audiences. The 75+ strong TACD membership has grown organically over the years and commands a broad expertise of consumer protection and policy, citizen rights, digital rights, and other specialist issues both in the EU and the U.S.