Research On Consumer Protection In "Big Data Bias"

The rise of digital technology,while bringing many conveniences to people’s lives,has also triggered the phenomenon of "big data bias",which greatly undermines consumers’ rights to information,freedom of choice,and fair trade,over-collecting consumer information,triggering a crisis of consumer trust and damaging the online trading environment.Driven by the goal of maximizing revenue,network operators collect consumer information through big data technology,and on this basis,they use algorithmic technology to analyze consumers’ personal consumption preferences,conduct accurate portraits,and implement personalized pricing for consumers under the condition of consumer path dependence and information asymmetry,thus resulting in "big data bias".The reason for the damage of "big data bias" to consumers’ rights can be attributed to the following aspects: First,the legal basis for the determination is vague.The scope of the Anti-monopoly Law is too narrow and it is difficult to identify the relevant market,while the determination of "reasonable price" in the Consumer Rights Protection Law is controversial and the scope of the obligation of "clear price indication" is unclear.Secondly,consumers’ personal information is not effectively protected,reflected in the difficulty of defining data ownership and the absence of informed consent rules.Third,the lack of regulation of algorithms.The algorithm accountability mechanism is vague,and the algorithm regulation measures are inadequate.Fourth,the difficulty of proof and the high cost of rights protection in the consumer litigation practice.By analyzing overseas experience,the EU focuses on data protection and the US focuses on algorithmic accountability,both of which show that the traditional tort law path of privacy protection cannot effectively solve the problem of consumer rights damage in the digital era,and data protection and algorithmic governance should be incorporated.In order to protect consumer rights and interests,combined with China’s judicial practice and existing research base,first,it should clarify the legal application of "big data bias" and improve the protection of consumers’ personal data and protect consumer rights and interests.In this regard,data property rights should be clarified,informed consent rules should be improved,the data anonymization processing system should be improved,and the data trust system should be constructed.Second,refine the regulatory path of algorithms,avoid algorithm discrimination against consumers,optimize algorithm filing,improve algorithm evaluation,and clarify the relative’s right to algorithm interpretation.Finally,increase the relief of consumer rights,establish an online consumer dispute resolution mechanism,implement the presumption of fault liability,and expand the scope of public interest litigation.