Harmful online design encourages consumers to hand over personal information

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are calling for businesses to stop using harmful website designs that can trick consumers into giving up more of their personal data than they would like. Practices include overly complicated privacy controls, default settings that give less control over personal information and bundling privacy choices together in ways that push consumers to share more data than they would otherwise wish to do. Where consumers lack effective control over how their data is collected and used, this can harm consumers…

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CMA to scrutinise ‘green’ claims in sales of household essentials

The CMA will examine the accuracy of ‘green’ claims made about household essentials – such as food, drink, and toiletries – to make sure shoppers are not being misled. The move is an expansion of ongoing work by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into ‘greenwashing’, which seeks to get to the bottom of whether products and services that claim to be green or eco-friendly are being marketed to shoppers accurately. The CMA’s review will examine a wide range of products known as ‘fast-moving consumer goods’ (FMCG). These are essential…

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ASA Launch New guidance launched for social influencers

The ASA/CAP have launched a new guide to help social influencers stick to the rules by making clear when their posts are ads. The Influencer’s Guide has been developed in collaboration with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Influencer’s Guide is an online resource that aims to help all parties involved in influencer marketing to follow the rules. It includes: What the rules are What the ASA considers to be an ad How to make clear ads are ads What the CMA’s requirements are What happens if someone makes…

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New campaign targets cartels as tip offs rise by third

A new crackdown is being launched by the UK’s competition authority amidst a 30% rise in the number of tip offs about cartels. The increase follows a previous Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) campaign targeting this illegal behaviour. The CMA is now launching a new campaign to encourage more people to come forward with information that will help it hunt out illegal cartels. The campaign is part of a ramping up of the CMA’s enforcement activity and comes after the award of an extra £2.8m from the government for this work.…

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The CAP Launches new guidance on “Free trial” or other promotional offer subscription models in advertising

The CAP has launched new guidance on “Free trial” or other promotional offer subscription models. It provides clear examples of the dos and don’ts when advertising offers that invite consumers to take advantage of a “free trial” product offer, test subscription, or other promotional benefit before enrolling them into making ongoing payments.  They have posted this as part of their commitment to National Consumer Week 2017 which this year focuses on subscriptions and subscription traps. Working with other organisations, including Citizens Advice, National Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets…

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