Regulation / Privacy / AI Governance
European Commission proposes Digital Fairness Act banning dark patterns and sensitive-data ad targeting
The draft regulation would replace the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, ban business-to-consumer dark patterns and extend the ban on personalised ads to minors or based on sensitive data to all websites and apps.
The European Commission published its proposal for a Digital Fairness Act (COM(2026) 1100) on 11 November 2026. The regulation would repeal and replace the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, turning 27 national transpositions into one directly applicable law.
The preferred policy option includes a general ban on business-to-consumer dark patterns. It would also prohibit personalised advertising aimed at minors or based on GDPR special categories of data or on consumer vulnerabilities, and ban personalised pricing for minors or vulnerable consumers where it leads to worse outcomes. Other measures include a fairness-by-design duty, an eased burden of proof in technologically complex cases, a right to a human in customer service and easier cancellation of subscriptions.
The proposal puts the yearly cut in consumer detriment at EUR 13.7 billion, counting financial losses and time lost; the Commission’s announcement, as reported by IAPP, cites EUR 10.3 billion a year in consumer savings. It puts yearly recurrent business costs at EUR 678 million after adjusting for overlaps. The proposal now goes to Parliament and Council. According to IAPP, a parallel revision of the consumer enforcement regulation would allow fines of up to 6% in large-scale cases.
Why it matters
The ad-targeting ban turns GDPR special-category classification and age data into direct inputs for marketing eligibility, so data stewards need reliable tagging of sensitive attributes and minor status across customer and audience data. Personalised pricing models would need to show they do not disadvantage minors or vulnerable consumers, and the eased burden of proof means firms may have to evidence how personalisation logic works. Privacy and marketing teams should map where profiling feeds advertising and pricing now, while the text can still change.
Status: Proposal. Parliament and Council have yet to negotiate and adopt the text
What to check
- Identify where GDPR special-category data, inferred vulnerabilities or minor status feed audience segments used for personalised advertising.
- Review whether personalised or dynamic pricing models could produce less favourable prices for minors or consumers in vulnerable situations, and whether you could document this.
- Check whether subscription flows, free-trial conversions and cancellation routes would meet the proposed reminder, active-acceptance and easy-cancellation requirements.
Sources
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Governance areas
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- Digital Fairness ActProposal · 1 story
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Who should care
- DPO
- Legal & compliance
- CDO
- AI governance lead