EU consumer law meets digital twins
(2023) Revue européenne de droit de la consommation — Vol. 1, p. 229-257 (2023)
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- Authors
Mocanu, Diana 
- Abstract
- This article contributes to the unfolding scholarly and policy conversation on regulating AI-powered personalisation practices from the vantage point of consumer protection. We borrow the notion of ‘digital twins’, originally a technical notion, to refer to AI-powered digital projections of real consumers created for the purposes of personalisation. We explore the mismatch between this very granular, data-rich digital representation of consumers and the very general and abstract legal representation of consumers expressed in the average and vulnerable consumer standards. We do not claim that law should necessarily track market practices it seeks to regulate or adopt representations that mirror trader’s practices. Instead, we find value in exposing the clash between market-made and judge-made images of consumers and the consequences that may ensue. The existing and forthcoming EU regulatory response to personalisation is then evaluated and several perspectives for change are presented in the aim of empowering consumer protection against the pitfalls of surveillance capitalism. In this enquiry, we consider the UCPD, GDPR, DSA, DMA, the draft AI Act, and the draft Data Act.
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Citations
Sibony, A.-L., & Mocanu, D. (2023). EU consumer law meets digital twins. Revue européenne de droit de la consommation, 1, 229-257. (Original work published 2023)