Consumer protection in the ICT sector has undergone significant transformation due to technological changes at all levels. In the era of voice-only users, the main consumer concerns were related to the tariff, voice quality and the protection of personal data that the service providers acquire. With evolutions in technologies, especially after the introduction of broadband and more specifically mobile broadband, the consumer can now access many different platforms and services like e-commerce, digital financial services, social media, e-health and e-education amongst others. These services collect data, apply different technologies (big data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to name a few), make decisions, and provide information about the users collectively and at times individually as the services are used. This has further added complexity to consumer protection. As more and more services (public and private) shift online, the need for consumer protection has also enhanced in terms of scale and scope.
Importance of Consumer Protection and Existing studies/recommendations
Consumer protection in an important aspect of service provsioning and has invited the attention of national governments as well as consumer associations and other stakeholders. Even within the ICT sector, consumer protection still remain an important aspect because if customers do not feel comfortable enough, they might not use the ICT services with confidence that will impact digital inclusion, which is critical in the digital transformation of the society, especially post COVID-19.
Several UN agencies have also provided guidelines and recoemmendations in this area. In addition to the ITU Study group report mentioned above that also not only highlights many of the issues faced by consumers in the ICT sector but also provides many good examples of best practices from around the world. Furthermore, the ITU and World Bank’s “Digital Regulation Platform” has a separate chapter on Consumer affairs. The platform highlights several important issues related to consumer protection such as: Consumer rights in the digital context, good practices in consumer support, international organizations relevant to consumer affairs, digital consumer right (consumer consultation), consumer requirements from regulators, dispute resolution and good practices in consumer outreach and education.
Impact of new technologies on Consumer Protection
New technologies also have an impact on consumer protection. According to the ITU report titled “Big data, machine learning, consumer protection and privacy” that identified beside the two technologies mentioned in the title Artificial Intelligence as something that will have a significant impact on consumer protection . The said report discusses this topic more in the context of financial services but such technologies can be used in other sector also. Furthermore, UNCTAD Digital Economy Report 2021 identifies some of the technologies that impact the data related regulation which has an impact on consumer protection in general and the economic prosperity in particular ate (big) data analytics, Internet of Things, cloud computing and other Internet based services. There are other technologies like location based services that can have an impact on consumer protection but are required for example for ride sharing services. The list will continue to grow as new services and technologies become available.
Consumer protection related issues in the Pacific countries
Several UNCTAD Rapid eTrade Readiness Assessments of Least Developed Countries as well workshops covering Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati ,Tuvalu, Togo and Vanuatu have highlighted very important issues in relation to the consumers of ICT and other online services especially in relation to the digital economy . Some of the key challenges identified have been:
1) Limited awareness of e-commerce relevance among policy and law makers, consumers, and businesses.
2) Weak legal and regulatory frameworks, including protection of consumers online.
3) Inappropriate education for the digital economy.
4) Limited Internet access in rural/ remote areas and costly access to fixed and mobile-broadband Internet.
5) Persistent barriers for women and youth to engage in e-commerce, preventing the leveling of playing fields through increased inclusivity.
6) Lack of business development skills and adequate e-commerce skills for MSMEs.
| Sr. No. | Country | ICT Legislation covering Consumer Protection (Year) | Electronic Transactions | Consumer Protection | Privacy and Data Protection | Cyber Crimes |
| 1 | Fiji | Yes (2012) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| 2 | Kiribati | Yes (2007) | No | No data | No | Yes |
| 3 | Marshall Islands | No[1]
| No data | No data | No | No |
| 4 | Micronesia (FSM) | Yes[2]
| No data | No data | No data | No |
| 5 | Nauru | Yes[3]
| No data | No data | No | No |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea | Yes[4] | No data | No data | No | Yes |
| 7 | Samoa | Yes (2020)
| Yes | No | No | Yes |
| 8 | Solomon Islands | Yes [5]
| Yes | No data | No | No |
| 9 | Tonga | Yes (2020) | Yes | No data | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | Tuvalu | No data | No | No data | No | Draft |
| 11 | Vanuatu | Yes (2020) | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Objectives of the workshop
There is greater need to approach consumer protection in ICT era holistically in light of the new digital services and emerging technologies. Consumer protection including data protection and privacy has been a growing need in the Pacific expressed by countries. As envisaged under ITU Asia-Pacific regional Initiative 4 : Enabling policy and regulatory environments expected results “Improved awareness of policy and regulatory frameworks relating to data privacy and cross-border data”, it is important to raise awareness amongst stakeholders on this important issue. A workshop on consumer protection for the Pacific is envisaged with the following objectives
• Increase understanding of the role of emerging technologies on consumer protection
• Create awareness among the regulators and policy makers in the Pacific on consumer protection (including data privacy and protection) in the digital age, international
practices and its implications in the Pacific
• Identify the key issues and challenges related to consumer protection in the Pacific
Expected Outputs
By the end of the training, the participants should be able to:
• Improve their awareness on Consumer protection in the digital environment and international practices
• Develop better understanding on how emerging technologies are impacting existing consumer protection frameworks and evolving remedial measures,
• Enhance their knowledge on data protection and data privacy frameworks, international practices, and way forward
11.00-11:07 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Welcome Address Ms. Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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11:07-11:10 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Virtual Group Photo Session
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| 11:10-12:00 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Session 1. Consumer Protection and Awareness Moderated by: Ms. Sofie Maddens, RME, HQ, ITU ITU Video on Consumer and Data Protection (3 minutes) [ Video]
Topic 1: Consumer protection in todays digital world and its impact on digital inclusion Speaker: Ms. Archana Goyal Gulati, Former Chair, ITU-D Study Group 1: Question 6/1 Rapporteurs [ Bio] [ Presentation] Topic 2: New technologies and its impact on consumerSpeaker: Ms. Miriam Stankovich, Senior Digital Policy Specialist, Center for Digital Acceleration, DAI [ Bio] [ Presentation]
Topic 3: Consumer information, protection and rights: Laws, regulation, guidelines
Speaker: Ms. Kari Ballot-Lena, TMG, Director, Digital Policy and Regulatory [ Bio] [ Presentation]
Q&A session
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12:00-12:10 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Break
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12:10-12:55 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Session 2: Data Protection and privacy
Moderated by: Mr. Jaco Du Toit, Chief of the Universal Access to Information Section at the Communication and Information Sector of UNESCO [ Bio]
Topic 1: What is data privacy and protection? How can data be shared without compromising privacy of consumers?
Speaker: Ms. Elisa Leonel, Head of Superintendence for Consumers Affairs at the National Telecommunication Agency, Brazil. [ Bio] [ Presentation]
Topic 2: Need and importance of Data Protection and Privacy law
Speaker: Dr Ian Walden, Professor of Information and Communications Law, Director, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, University of Topic 3: International best practices
Speaker: Malavika Jayaram, Executive Director, Digital Asia Hub [ Bio]
Q&A session
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12:55-13:00 (GMT+7) Bangkok time
| Closing remarks Ms. Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
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