Redesigning the UCPD for the Age of Personalised Marketing: A Proposal to Redesign the UCPD’s Consumer Benchmarks and General Clauses

Abstract

Previous research has pointed out that EU marketing law, with the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) at its centre, falls short in effectively protecting consumers against harmful personalised marketing. An important part of the problem is that the UCPD’s general clauses, including its consumer benchmarks, are not fit to effectively protect consumers in this context. This article therefore proposes a redesign of the consumer benchmarks and the general clauses in the UCPD, aiming at protecting consumers more effectively against harmful personalised marketing.