Certain Aspects of Consumer Rights Protection in the Field of the Internet of Things

Abstract

This research is aimed at identifying certain issues concerning consumers and protection of their rights in the field of the Internet of things. In addition to raised issues, the authors suggest possible solutions to them. The authors are interested in the legal aspect of consumer rights protection in the space of the Internet of things. The authors are aware of the fact that the Internet of things is the union and relation of things through the Internet; it is obvious however that these things are only interrelated under the facilitation of a human and for his/her purposes. The authors analyze the interaction of persons in the space of the Internet of things, in which things “interact” with other persons (non-owners of things) for satisfaction of needs of the owners of things. It has been alleged that statutory regulation of consumer rights protection in the field of the Internet of things is almost entirely absent; available national and international regulatory acts and individual standards are not adapted to regulation of relations in the field of the Internet of things. The basic concept of “consumer” has no standard definition so far. The authors have suggested ways to identify the users of the Internet of things. The concept of vulnerable consumer is taken into consideration. The analysis of neutrality of the Internet of things and its relation to unfair discrimination of consumers is performed. Certain issues of consumer rights protection are studied through the prism of smart contracts; in particular, the issues of consumers’ withdrawal from smart contracts are analyzed. Since the Internet of things is mostly cross-border in nature, definitions which are used in the field of the Internet of things, as well as attributions of responsibility and sanctions for violations must be uniform and intersectoral within the framework of national and international legislation. General scientific methods of scientific cognition (analysis, synthesis) and the method of comparative legal studies were used in this paper.