Do You Care About Online Internet Consumer Protection?
Updating the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection for the Digital Age
Why amend the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection?
 |
Because digital consumers are being treated unfairly
-
Did you ever purchase a movie from overseas, only to find it wouldn't work on your player back home?
-
Do you hate having to click “I agree” to pages of legalese that could be taking away your rights?
-
Would you like to be able to freely transfer e-books between your devices and to share them with family members?
Because your privacy matters
-
Are marketers tracking you across the Web without your permission?
-
Are you worried about how securely your personal data is being kept online, and what recourse you might have if it leaks out?
-
Can you easily move the documents, photos and videos that you have stored online to another provider?
Because everyone deserves access to an open and fair Internet
-
Did you ever have a dispute over an online purchase that you had no effective way to resolve?
-
Do you hate being forced to take a bundle of services, and to sign up for a long period, just to gain access to the Internet?
-
Would you like free online access to the consumer laws, standards and safety information that affect you, in your own language?
The amendments proposed by CI and supported by the global consumer movement will update and strengthen the Guidelines, for the benefit of consumers everywhere. Our book Updating the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection for the Digital Age is available now, and you can also download a full copy of our proposals across all areas of consumer policy. To support these amendments, contact your local CI member.
More information
Since 2010, CI has been engaged in proposing revisions to the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection to incorporate A2K principles that are important for today’s consumers. In 2012, this project was expanded to include a full review of the Guidelines. The links below include some current as well as some historical material from throughout this process.- The book Updating the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection for the Digital Age, with its three book launch events between June-July 2013 in India, Brazil and South Africa.
- Consumers International's proposals for amendments to the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection (June 2013)
- Read more background about the research on the Guidelines amendments that we undertook to produce a body of evidence in support of the process.
- For the interactive website used for commenting on the text of the proposed amendments, see the new dedicated microsite (though the text there is outdated now).
- For discussion of the A2K-specific amendments and more historical background see the UNESCO Knowledge Communities.
Comments
But I think that in the end we all must choose to either submit or opt out.
I have opted out many times. I no longer have cable TV or any TV for that matter. I no longer have a cellphone, let alone a "smart" (cough) phone. I don't do social web pages such as FaceBook. Why should I supply personal data to a corporation for them to get rich and me to expose my whole life to the corporations who want to sell crap to me? (Not to mention the NSA).
Forget relying on the UN or any government to protect your rights and privacy. It is in your hands. Just abstain.
We all have better things to do with our time anyway.
On the other hand, we are doing nothing wrong, and I'm glad blogging is still an option. No thanks to most of the rest, as you put it.
Has anyone actually noted what a brilliant idea Internet was from a bad novel about the Security State nightmare perspective...? And meanwhile, libraries are getting less and less funding.