The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe

Open Research Area

Professor Joasia Luzak

Professor in Law, Director of Global Engagement (Law)

Dr. Joasia Luzak is a Professor in Law (Education and Research), the Director of the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS) and Director of Global Engagement for the Law School.

She is also a Guest Associate Professor at the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law (CSECL) at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In December 2015 she has been awarded funding within the Open Research Area (ORA) to a 3-year project led by her: “The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe” (see more under Research). This project run until May 2020.

Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Private Law A of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2008-2016). At this university, as of 2015, she was a Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law, as well as the Director of the European Private Law LL.M program. She has also coordinated master thesis process in three private law LL.Ms (2012-2015). She has joined Exeter's Law School in 2016 as an Associate Professor (until August 2021).

She holds a PhD in Law (2011) from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands (book available here). She obtained her LL.M degree in Law cum laude at the University of Warsaw, Poland (2004). She also graduated with distinction from a two-year course on English and European Law co-organized by Cambridge and Warsaw Universities (2003).

She was a Visiting Professor at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London (2013); at the University of Houston Law Center, United States (2014); and at the International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece (2014-2016).

Dr. Joasia Luzak is one of the editors of the Journal of European Consumer and Market Law (EuCML) (as of 2016), as well as of the Dutch Tijdschrift voor Consumentenrecht & handelspraktijken (TvC) (as of 2018) and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Policy (JCP) (as of 2016).

She has participated in many projects of the European Commission, of the European Parliament and of the European Consumer Organization (BEUC). Most recently, she was part of the consortiums working on the “Economic study on consumer digital content products” and on the “Study on consumers’ attitudes towards terms and conditions” for the European Commission (both finalized in 2015). She has also drafted the Polish report for the "Study for the fitness check of EU consumer and marketing law" (2016), as well as is preparing the Dutch report for the "Compliance assessment of the Directive 2015/2302/EU on package travel and linked travel arrangements" (2019), both commissioned by the European Commission.

Dr. Joasia Luzak is also a founder and an administrator of the popular blog on Recent Developments in European Consumer Law: http://recent-ecl.blogspot.nl/

Research group links

Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS)

Research interests

Consumer law
Internet law
Contract law
Digital markets
Sustainability and private law
Consumer behaviour

Within the Open Research Area (ORA) funding scheme 2015 the funding was awarded, among others, to a project led by dr Joasia Luzak on “The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe”. Total budget for this 3-year project (running until May 2020) is ca 465.000 Euro and will allow to conduct comparative and empirical legal research in Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, England and Poland.

When European consumers buy, e.g., a computer online, the European legislator requires them to receive “clear and comprehensive” information about the trader’s option to store, process and share their data (ePrivacy Directive). Subsequently, they need to receive “clear and comprehensible” information “in clear and intelligible language” on the purchase conditions, such as their right of withdrawal or the computer´s characteristics (Consumer Rights Directive). Moreover, if they purchase the computer on credit, they need to receive “clear and concise” information on the credit terms (Consumer Credit Directive). Although EU law requires information disclosures like these to be transparent, it does not establish what counts as clear, comprehensive, intelligible or concise online disclosure. As it provides no yardstick for assessing transparency, it leaves a gap that national enforcement authorities (NEA) may fill differently.

The research aims to develop European guidelines that NEA should apply to uniformly assess the transparency of disclosures. These guidelines will be drafted on the basis of insights gained from conducting: a) comparative legal research illustrating when a given disclosure is currently assessed as transparent by NEA; b) empirical legal research determining the desired and applied criteria for the transparency’s assessment.

Research supervision

I am interested in superivsing thesis in the broad field of consumer law (unfair contract terms; unfair commercial practices; travel contracts; online contracts; sustainable consumption; consumer dispute resolution; platform economy, etc.), especially if students aim to use empirical methodology or include interdisciplinary elements, e.g. by drawing from the consumer behaviour research insights.

Research students

Current PhD students

Mia Junuzovic - The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe

Kinga Krzymowska - New York Convention Implementation and its Impact on the United Arab Emirates International Arbitration Based on Federal Law No. (6) of 2018

Past PhD students

Radha Jethu-Ramsoedh - Consumer Protection and Textile Labelling (viva in October 2017)

Anna van Duin - The functions of Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in European private law adjudication (viva in October 2020, cum laude)

Shaya Alshahrani - Providing Sharia-Compliant Consumer Protection in Online Contracts: A case study of Saudi Arabia (viva in January 2022, minor corrections)

External impact and engagement

Founder, administrator and contributor of the blog Recent Developments of European Consumer Law (http://recent-ecl.blogspot.co.uk/ )

2022

Expert for European Commission's project 'Behavioural study on the assessment of a lawbot assisting consumers on online dispute resolution'

Expert for European Commission's project 'Study to support the Commission's policy development on promoting repair of consumer goods and contracts in the data economy'

Presentation at the workshop of Business in Democracy Initiative (BiDEM) 'Trading personal data in algorithmically-mediated democracies' (Copenhagen, Denmark) on the topic of 'The limits of transparency in the digital environment' (6 April)

Presentation at the UNCTAD Working Group on Consumer Protection in E-Commerce webinar 'Dark Commercial Patterns: Experiences and Tools for Education and Business Guidance' (30 March)

2021

Presentation at Erasmus School of Law, Behavioural Approaches to Contract and Tort (BACT) research group on the topic of 'Right to sustainable consumption' (16 December)

Presentation at the European Commission's and UOKiK's (Polish Office of Compeition and Consumer Protection) webinar 'Consumer dialogues' on issues of consumer protection in digital environments (22 November)

Presentation at the 'Legal Code' workshop (St Gallen, Switzerland) on the topic of 'Tailor-made Consumer Protection: Personalisation of law (information obligations'' (26 August)

Presentation at the ECPR 2021 Reg-Gov conference on the topic of 'Tailor-made Consumer Protection: Personalisation's Impact on the Granularity of Consumer Information'' (24 June)

Presentation for the Japanese Bar Association on the topic of consumer vulnerability (7 June)

Presentation at the AIDA Europe webinars 2021 on the topic of transparency in insurance contracts (19 May)

Webinar for Free University of Bozen-Bolzano on the topic 'Digital Services Act: What should users of digital services remain wary of?' (28 April)

Presentation at the conference 'Talking law in the EU: clear language, rule of law and legitimacy in the European legal space' (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) on the topic of 'The role of transparency in consumer law: a vaccine, a cure-all, a placebo or...?' (21-22 January)

2020

Co-author of the report for the European Parliament 'Update the Unfair Contract Terms Directive for digital services'

Expert for the European Commission's 'Study to support for the preparation of an evaluation of the General Product Safety Directive as well as of an impact assessment on its potential revision' - drafting part of a study

Polish rapporteur for the European Commission's 'Study for the preparation of an Implementation Report on the General Product Safety Directive' - draftin Polish report

Presentation at the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) annual conference on the topic 'Tailor-made Consumer Protection: Personalization's Impact on the Granularity of Consumer Information' (4 September)

Presentation at the conference 'Should Data Shape Private Law? Between Stereotypes and Personalisation' (Tilburg, the Netherlands) on the topic 'Personalising Consumer Information' (4 June)

2019

Consumer law expert in the project 'Audit of consumer law cases' funded by the Raad voor de Rechtsbijstand (Dutch Council for Legal Aid) (runs 2019-2020)

Preparation of the Dutch report for 'Compliance assessment of the Directive 2015/2302/EU on package travel and linked travel arrangements' for the European Commission

Organisation and opening speech at a conference 'The Transparent Trap: Disclosing Information to Consumers' in Amsterdam, the Netherlands - 4-5 July

Presentation 'Using Big Data Technology for Good: Facilitating Sustainable Consumer Choices Through Personalised Labeling' at SECOLA (Society of European Contract Law) conference 'European Contract Law and Sustainability' in Thessaloniki, Greece - 22-23 June

Presentation 'The enigma of transparency: Dilemmas of enforcing traditional concepts in modern times' at the IACL (International Association of Consumer Law) bi-annual conference in Indianapolis, US - 13-15 June

Organisation and presentation at the stakeholders' workshop 'The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe' in Berlin, Germany - 17 May

Blog post 'Piercing the Internet's veil under the New Deal' for the CEG blog (24 April)

Providing expert advice on 'What to do if your flight is cancelled' for the reades' of a website Travel Supermarket (4 April)

Presentation 'Piercing the Internet's veil under the New Deal' at Centre for European Governance seminars in London, UK - 26 March - invited speaker

Presentation 'One size does not fit all: impact of consumer vulnerability on information disclosure design' at a conference KCON XIV - 14th Annual International Conference on Contracts in New Orleans, US - 8-9 March

Presentation 'Nowy Ład a Internet: czy wzmocni ochronę zasady przejrzystości?' (New Deal and Internet: is it going to strengthen the principle of transparency') at a conference 'VI Międzynarodowa Konsumencka Konferencja Naukowa z okazji 20'lecia Rzeczników Konsumentów' (VI International Consumer Academic Conference on the occassion of 20th anniversary of Consumer Ombudsmen) in Katowice, Poland - 28 February-1 March - invited speaker

Prepared a part (understanding of legal issues) of the winning bid of Tipik for the compliance assessment of the Directive 2015/2302/EU on package travel and linked travel arrangements (for European Commission's tender)

2018

Presentation 'Enforcement of competition law: How to provide effective remedies for consumers in mass harm situations?' at a workshop 'Global Governance and Enforcement of Competition Law' in Exeter, UK - 14 December - invited speaker

Presentation 'Collective redress for consumer rather than collective rights? New trends for collective mechanisms in UK' at a conference 'Efficient collective redress mechanisms in Visegrad 4 countries: an achievable target?' in Prague, Czech Republic - 23 November 2018 - invited speaker

Presentation 'One size does not fit all: Impact of consumer vulnerability on information disclosure design' during the 2018 Annual Meeting on Law and Society (LSA 2018) in Toronto, Canada - 6 June 2018

Presentation 'Blurred lines: Between formal and substantive transparency in consumer credit contracts' at a conference 'The Responsible Consumer in the Digital Age - International and Nordic Perspectives on Consumer Financial Protection' in Copenhagen, Denmark - 31 May 2018

Presentation 'Behavioural-data policymaking: status quo bias, choice paradox or...?' during a conference 'Legal Aspects of Data Science' in Tilburg, the Netherlands - 17 May 2018 - invited speaker

Organiser of an international conference, chair of a panel, 'Consumer Law in the Data Economy' at the University of Amsterdam - 13 April 2018

Presentation 'One size does not fit all: Impact of consumer vulnerability on information disclosure design' at the information law panel of Socio-Legal Studies Association conference in Bristol - 29 March 2018

Presentation on UK collective redress mechanisms during a workshop for the Visegrad project on collective redress in Prague, Czech Republic - 23 March 2018

EU law expert in the project "Progress in collective redress mechanisms in environmental and consumer mass harm situations" funded by the Visegrad Foundation (as of March 2018 for 1.5 years)

Presentation 'Keep it Simple, Stupid - Using the KISS principle for nutritional labelling as potentially misleading?' during a conference 'Nutrition information as a tool of consumer empowerment and public health protection?' in Lausanne, Switzerland - 25 January 2018 - invited speaker

2017

Presentation 'Who Calls the Tune? Stock Taking of Behavioural Protection in Europe' during a colloquium at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London - 18 October 2017 - invited speaker

Presentation 'Using technology for good: how personalised information facilitates more sustainable consumer choices' during a workshop 'Sustainable Consumption: Information Regulation, Consumer Behaviour, And the Rule of Law' in Hamburg, Germany - 7 September 2017 - invited speaker

Presentation 'The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: can we standardise transparency assessment?' during a conference of International Association of Consumer Law (IACL) in Porto Alegre, Brazil - 18 July 2017

Organiser of an international workshop 'Transparency: where art thou in consumer protection?' at the University of Exeter - 27 June 2017

Presentation 'Impact of Art. 47 of the Charter on consumer protection in the UK' during a workshop 'Toward Effective Justice in Consumer Protection' at the Supreme Court of Poland, Warsaw - 19 June 2017

Presentation 'The future of labelling: consequences for products safety and product liability' during a conference 'Product Safety, Consumer Health and Liability: The New Challenges of Science, Political Reasons and Contemporary Markets' in Quebec City, Canada - 8 June 2017

Presentation 'The draft regulation revising e-Privacy Directive' during the 15th Jean Monnet Seminar 'EU and Trust in the Online Environment' in Dubrovnik, Croatia - 24 April 2017

Presentation 'Consumer Attitudes to Online Terms and Conditions' during an international conference 'On research in private and market law - challenges for the 21st century' in Hong Kong - 24 February 2017 - invited speaker

2016

Presentation 'A house of bricks? On the 3rd version of ePrivacy Directive' during a conference 'The relationship of the EU and the UK in the future of data protection and privacy policy' in London - 2 December 2016

Participation in a panel of a private seminar of the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) 'For a Smart Protection of the Digital Consumer' in Brussels - 7 November 2016

Presentation on empirical evidence in consumer law cases at Teaching Consumer Law conference in Santa Fe, the US - 21 May 2016

Preparing Polish report for the European Commission - Study to support the Fitness Check of EU Consumer law - ongoing

Conversation with Which? on legal issues of sharing economy - 14 April 2016

Presentation on sharing economy at the COJEF II (organized by the European Consumer Organisation BEUC for national consumer organisations' representatives) meeting in Florence - invited lecture - 21-22 March 2016

Presentation on vulnerable consumers in package travel contracts at the Polish Consumer Ombundsman annual conference in Katowice - invited lecture - 10-11 March 2016

Organisation of and presentation at the workshop Digital Single Market: Stakeholders' Perspective on proposed new Contract Rules in Amsterdam - 4 February 2016

2015

Part of the consortium (UvA, Tilburg University, Ecorys, GfK) conducting the study on consumers' attittudes towards terms and conditions for the European Commission (final report in 2016)

Preparing Dutch report on franchising for the European Parliament

Preparing Dutch report on all mandatory rules applicable to contractual obligations in contracts for sales of tangible goods sold at a distance and, in particular, online for the European Commission

Part of the consortium (UvA, ICFI) conducting economic study on consumer digital content products for the European Commission

2014

Co-writing (with M. Loos) report Consumer law compliance in online services for BEUC (European Consumer Organisation)

2012

Co-writing (with M. Loos) Report on the transposition of consumer law directives in the Netherlands for the EC Consumer Law Compendium

2011

Part of the project (Asser Institution) Strengthening the Vietnam Competition Authorities in the field of enforcement of Consumer Law

Co-writing (with prof. F. Zoll) Polish report for the project Digital content services for consumers for the European Commission

Modules taught

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