A study on the personal data processing and the UCPD: Focused on Italy, Germany and the UK

Manipulation with Big Data Analytics allows commercial exploitation of individuals based on unfair commercial practices. Consequently, the concepts of consumer protection are essential in the data-driven economy and a central issue for effective safety for individuals in the Big Data Age. Although the fields of consumer protection and data protection in the European Union (EU) have developed separately, there is an unambiguous relationship between them. While the GDPR plays a crucial role in an individual’s data protection in a case of personal data processing, Directive 2005/29/EC (UCPD) plays an essential role in regulating an individual’s protection from the unfair commercial practice when it comes to personal data processing. A vital aspect of the UCPD is the enforcement of issues related to consumer privacy. However, a much-debated question is whether the UCPD is fully effective or not when it comes to personal data processing. This paper examines case law examples on WhatsApp and Facebook in Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. This paper also aims to come to a conclusion on the issue of the applicability of the rules on unfair commercial practice when it comes to data processing.

The Role of Consumers in the Achievement of Corporate Sustainability through the Reduction of Unfair Commercial Practices

The subject of this article is a determination of the potential of the prohibition of unfair commercial practice, as an institution of consumer law, established to strengthen consumers’ protection, to contribute to the achievement of corporate sustainability. The main objective of the paper is the identification of situations in which certain companies’ actions may at the same time be considered as unsustainable and socially irresponsible behavior, as well as unfair commercial practice. There are three such characteristic situations that were the subject of thorough analysis in the paper: (1) company’s constantly invoking to the concepts of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in its marketing activities, which is essentially incorrect because the company in practice breaches some of the basic postulates of these concepts, (2) breach of company’s code of conduct which contains the principles of corporate sustainability and CSR, and which the company has undertaken to be bound, (3) conducting many concrete acts which represent unfair commercial practice, and simultaneously have negative impact on the corporate sustainability and CSR. From the analysis of these three situations arises the conclusion that there is a possibility for indirect legal sanctioning of the unsustainable and socially irresponsible behavior of companies through the application of the consumer law rules on the prohibition of unfair commercial practice.

Legal Importance of Codes of Ethics in Insurance

According to the author, codes of ethics are of significant importance as an example of self-regulation of the insurance market despite the fact that they do not belong to the constitutional sources of law. Non-compliance with the code of ethics by an entrepreneur may constitute unfair commercial practice in relation with consumers or unfair competition practice in relation with other entrepreneurs. Moreover, codes of ethics may specify the contents of general clauses regulated by the Civil Code, thus influencing the contents of the contracts concluded and validity of clauses thereof as well as the unlawfulness as an element of tortious fault and the level of professional due diligence required to be released from liability for the non-performance of contracts. In the author’s opinion, the entry into force of the Insurance Distribution Act ought to encourage updating and concretisation of the existing ethical codes.