Policy update
Consultation on review of AI and Australian Consumer Law
The Government this week released a Discussion Paper which explores the application of the ACL to AI-enabled goods and services. According to the announcement by the Hon Stephen Jones MP, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, this will be part of the Government’s ongoing wok to strengthen laws to address risks and harms from AI. The Discussion Paper seeks views on issues including
- the appropriateness of existing consumer protections under the ACL for consumers of AI‑enabled goods and services,
- the application of existing ACL provisions to new and emerging AI‑enabled goods and services, and
- remedies for consumers and liability for suppliers and manufacturers of AI‑enabled goods and services where things go wrong.
IAB will review the paper and engage with the process so far as it impacts digital advertising practices. We will keep you posted on how this progresses.
Unfair trading practices
Also this week, the Government announced that it would take action on unfair trading practices, in particular to address practices including:
- ‘Subscription traps’ that use arduous and confusing steps to make cancelling a subscription difficult.
- ‘Drip pricing’ practices where fees are hidden or added throughout the stages of a purchase.
- Deceptive and manipulative online practices that aim to confuse or overwhelm consumers, omit or hide material information, or create a false sense of urgency or scarcity – this can include warnings that a customer only has limited time to purchase a product.
- Dynamic pricing where a product’s price changes during the transaction process.
- Requiring consumers to set up an account and provide unnecessary information to make an online purchase.
- Where a business makes it difficult for a consumer to contact them when they have a problem with their product or service.
IAB made a detailed submission to the previous Government consultation process on this issue in December last year here. The Government has now indicated that it will engage in further consultation on the design of an unfair trading practices prohibition prior to developing final reform proposals in the first half of 2025.
Privacy
We have had a few inquiries about the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 which is currently before the Parliament. We previously provided a summary of what it contains here. In short, the Bill includes the first tranche of provisions to amend the Privacy Act 1988. These provisions relate to a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, privacy policy requirements regarding automated decision-making transparency, children’s online privacy code provisions, additional enforcement powers for the OAIC and criminal offences for doxing, amongst others. Notably for IAB members, the Bill does not include the advertising specific provisions relating to targeting, trading etc that IAB had expressed concerns about in submissions and during recent consultation processes.
In terms of the process for this first tranche of reforms – following introduction of the Bill, it was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on the 19th of September. The Committee is currently considering submissions on the provisions of the Bill and will provide a report, together with any recommendations, by 14 November 2024. We will provide further updates once the report has been made public and following passage of the legislation.
In terms of the process for the advertising specific provisions, the Government has indicated that it remains committed to introducing these at a later stage – as part of a second tranche of reforms. Prior to this, the Government will engage and consult further with industry on these. We expect these further consultations to commence this year and will keep members posted on this process as well. At this stage, we won’t see legislation for this second tranche this year, and likely will not see it before the next election.