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Toolkit for Protecting Digital Consumers: a Resource for G20 Policy Makers

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Toolkit for Protecting Digital Consumers: a Resource for G20 Policy Makers www.oecd.org/sti/consumer TOOLKIT FOR www.oecd.org/going-digital PROTECTING http://oe.cd/digital-economy-papers DIGITAL @OECDInnovation CONSUMERS A Resource for G20 Policy Makers This toolkit was prepared by the OECD Secretariat at the request of the German G20 Presidency and launched at the G20 Consumer Summit in Buenos Aires on 15-16 May 2018. It was drafted by staff in the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), working with Richard Bates, consultant to the OECD. The leadership and oversight of Gabriela Ramos, OECD Sherpa, and the OECD Sherpa Office, is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks to Angela Gosmann for her valuable help in formatting the report. This report is issued under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and the arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD countries or of the G20. This document, as well as any data and any map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. © OECD, 2018 TOOLKIT FOR PROTECTING DIGITAL CONSUMERS: A RESOURCE FOR G20 POLICY MAKERS Preface The digital shifts underway in the functioning of businesses and markets provide huge opportunities for empowering consumers. As the Internet expands access to goods and services at competitive prices it also brings greater transparency to inform consumer decision making. At the same time, consumer choices in this information-intensive environment are impaired by challenges relating to complexity and uncertainty, sometimes compounded by misleading or fraudulent business practices. Empowered consumers play an important role in improving economic performance and driving innovation, productivity and competition. Effective consumer protection policies are therefore essential for building trust in the digital economy and enabling everyone to participate fully in it, reaping the opportunities while reducing the risks. Governments have a key role to play in creating, adapting and maintaining a consumer protection framework that is effective and responsive to the interconnected nature of e-commerce. In 2017, in Düsseldorf, G20 Ministers responsible for the digital economy underlined the importance of consumer protection in their G20 Roadmap for Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future (the “Roadmap”). In order to support G20 economies in their efforts to implement the Roadmap, and at the request of the 2017 G20 German Presidency, the OECD produced this toolkit and its set of actionable principles. Building on the long OECD experience in promoting effective consumer protection and in addressing the digital transformation across policy domains, we are pleased to contribute to the international consumer protection agenda with this toolkit, which we hope will be an essential resource for G20 policy makers working to tackle these challenges and support a consumer-driven digital marketplace. Gabriela Ramos Andrew Wyckoff OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20 Director for Science, Technology and Innovation © OECD, 2018 3 TOOLKIT FOR PROTECTING DIGITAL CONSUMERS: A RESOURCE FOR G20 POLICY MAKERS Table of contents PREFACE ........................................................................................................ 3 LIST OF ACRONYMS........................................................................................ 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................... 8 1. CONTEXT AND INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 11 1.1 An era of dramatic change and new opportunities for consumers ............................................ 11 1.2 About this toolkit ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.3 What is e-commerce? ................................................................................................................. 15 1.4 Key trends in e-commerce .......................................................................................................... 17 1.5 Key benefits of e-commerce for consumers ............................................................................... 19 1.6 Key risks and downsides of e-commerce for consumers ............................................................ 20 1.7 E-commerce and consumer trust................................................................................................ 21 1.8 Consumer protection as a precursor to consumer trust ............................................................ 22 2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES ............................................................................... 23 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 23 2.1 Fair business and advertising practices ...................................................................................... 23 2.2 Appropriate disclosures .............................................................................................................. 30 2.3 Effective processes for transaction confirmation and payment ................................................. 35 2.4 Measures to address privacy and security risks ......................................................................... 40 2.5 Product safety across e-commerce supply chains ...................................................................... 46 2.6 Meaningful access to effective mechanisms to resolve disputes ............................................... 52 3. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND INSTITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT ................. 57 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 57 3.1 Approaches to the regulatory framework .................................................................................. 57 3.2 Enforcement authorities and their powers ................................................................................ 60 3.3 Co-operation ............................................................................................................................... 64 3.4 The policy decision making process ............................................................................................ 72 3.5 Education, awareness and digital consumer competence ......................................................... 82 REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 87 NOTES .......................................................................................................... 96 4 © OECD, 2018 TOOLKIT FOR PROTECTING DIGITAL CONSUMERS: A RESOURCE FOR G20 POLICY MAKERS Figures Figure 1. Rising consumer participation in e-commerce with large cross-country differences ........ 17 Figure 2. Popular e-commerce categories in OECD countries ........................................................... 19 Figure 3. Preferred means of paying for goods and services online globally .................................... 37 Figure 4. Individuals having experienced a financial loss from fraudulent online payments in the last three months...................................................................................................... 37 Figure 5. Individuals having experienced privacy violations in the last three months ...................... 43 Figure 6. Authorities’ investigative powers ....................................................................................... 61 Figure 7. The enforcement pyramid .................................................................................................. 62 Figure 8. Types of enforcement powers ............................................................................................ 63 Figure 9. Types of enforcement actions available to authorities ...................................................... 64 Figure 10. Ability to share information with authorities in other countries ....................................... 68 Figure 11. Barriers for international co-operation in consumer protection ........................................ 72 Figure 12. Consumer policy making steps ........................................................................................... 79 Figure 13. Consumer policy tools to target the demand and supply side of markets ......................... 81 Tables Table 1. Share of economies with relevant e-commerce legislation, by region, 2017 (%) ................... 58 Table 2. Examples of consumer complaint initiatives in G20 economies ............................................. 74 Boxes Box 1. High-level general principles .................................................................................................... 23 Box 2. Copycat website fraud ............................................................................................................. 25 Box 3. Misleading reference prices: The People of the State of California v. Overstock.com ........... 26 Box 4. Enforcement actions on “drip pricing” .................................................................................... 29 Box 5. Do consumers read online terms and conditions? .................................................................. 32 Box 6. Consumer detriment associated with online terms
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