United Kingdom: The Digital Fairness Act Proposal

In brief

Following our previous alert, on 11 November, the European Commission adopted its long‑awaited Proposal for a Digital Fairness Act (DFA).

The DFA is a flagship initiative to modernise the EU’s consumer protection framework for the digital age. It would replace the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive with a directly applicable Regulation and significantly update the Consumer Rights Directive and Unfair Contract Terms Directive. The changes span a number of areas including pricing, subscriptions, dark patterns, addictive design and engagement features, personalisation and agentic AI. 

Given the substantial overlap between the DFA and other EU and UK legislation, effective compliance strategies mean businesses will consider a pan-European approach to compliance. 

Below, we highlight the changes businesses should be preparing for. Look out for our upcoming DFA deep dives, where we will unpack the key proposals and their practical implications for businesses.

Iman Jamil and Alice Hawes, Associates, have contributed to this legal update.