Report out now: The Transformative potential of Enforcement Technology (EnfTech) in Consumer Law
Consumer protection agencies urgently need new tools
EnfTech has the potential to change the way consumer law is enforced. The rate and scale of market activity means that many consumer harms go unchecked or are only picked up after a consumer has been impacted. With digital markets now the norm for most of the world’s consumers, consumer protection agencies are in urgent need of new tools powered by technology to avoid becoming obsolete. This would help them react more quickly to problems and in future, to deliver proactive interventions that prevent problems occurring in the first place.
Front runners are testing out tech-enabled solutions for consumer protection
The EnfTech project’s new report documents 18 use cases of technology by consumer enforcement authorities. These show that right now across the world, consumer protection agencies are streamlining their operations and speeding up monitoring and interventions across a wide range of consumer interactions. It also contains case studies from other public authorities, the private sector and institutional innovations that could be adapted for consumer protection purposes.
Drawn from desk research and the outcomes of a major event in April 2023 hosted in partnership with UNCTAD, the report is aimed primarily at newcomers to the field of EnfTech, but agencies at all levels of developments will find the results useful. Main findings include:
There is no one size fits all institutional framework for the deployment of EnfTech. Gains can be made in all set ups regardless of the level of technological knowledge or development.
There is a technological gap between consumer enforcement practice and practice further afield.
AI is spreading fast in the practice of enforcement agencies and is a potentially useful ally, but it’s not always the most appropriate choice.
Make EnfTech work across borders for maximum impact
Within a few years, we predict that EnfTech will be making its way into the work of all agencies. How this happens will depend on pre-existing institutional setups and local regulatory and enforcement cultures.
Given the globalised, digital nature of consumer markets, we think that designing EnfTech in a way that works across borders should be a top priority. This can start with much more systematic, international sharing of practice, skills requirements, data intelligence and standardised database. We hope this report will contribute to building a community of committed consumer.
Thanks to all who contributed including: the UNCTAD Secretariat and notably Teresa Moreira and Arnau Izaguerri for their support for this project and co-organisation of this project’s launch event. Margarita Tuch, EU e-Lab at the European Commission, EU; Luisa Crisigiovanni, CICLE project, Euroconsumers / Altroconsumo, Italy; Ruth Castelo, Undersecretary for Consumers Affairs, DTI, The Philippines; Dries Cuijpers, Senior Enforcement Officer, Authority for Consumers and Markets, Netherlands; Piotr Adamczewski, UOKIK, Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Poland; Stacy Procter, Federal Trade Commission, USA; Professor Dr Martin Ebers, President, Robotics and AI Law Society, Germany; Steven Kamukama, Manager Consumer Welfare, COMESA Competition Commission; Sita Zempel, GIZ Project Director, ASEAN; Johanna Calderon, Legal Director, Proconsumidor, Dominican Republic; Laura Aade; Constanta Rosca; Jessie Nghiem, Senior Data Scientist, Energy Safe Victoria, Australia; Adam Murdoch, Head of Electrical Equipment Safety and Efficiency Energy Safe Victoria, Australia; Simon Corden, Commissioner, Essential Services Commission, Australia; Anne-Jel Hoelen, Senior Legal Counsel, Authority for Consumers and Markets, Netherlands; Jared Wright and Rhea Subramanya, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, UK; Jerry Spanakis, Assistant Professor at the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences and at Maastricht Law+Tech Lab, Maastricht University, Netherlands; Catalina Goanta, Associate Professor in Private Law and Technology, University of Utrecht, Netherlands; Robin Simpson, Consumer Protection Expert and consultant to the UN.