Personal data as consideration under EU consumer law

<p>In today's digital society, it has become increasingly common for users (consumers) to receive digital content and services in exchange for providing their personal data. In contrast to the widespread use of this business model, its legal regulation remains incomplete. In the terms and conditions of content and service providers, such contracts are generally positioned as "free of charge." However, the reality is that operators use personal data provided by users to generate revenue, which is also important in determining the legal nature of these agreements. How should such contracts be handled from a legal perspective? This is important in various aspects, for example, with respect to what remedies should be made available to users (especially when they are consumers) in case of non-conformity of content or services.</p><p>In the EU, this phenomenon has been partly dealt with, and consumers are given the same remedies for non-conformity of digital content, etc. as if they had paid the price (money, etc.). At the same time, in EU law, it is emphasized that the protection of personal data is a fundamental right, and it is made clear that the above-mentioned legal treatment does not commoditize personal data. On the other hand, new issues have arisen due to the intersection of contract law and personal data protection law, as personal data is positioned as consideration in contracts. Specifically, the main question is how the content of regulation regarding contract law and that regarding personal data influence each other.</p><p>In this paper, the author first reviews the developments in EU consumer law leading up to the adoption of the Digital Content Supply Directive. Then, as a premise for the analysis, the author provides an overview of the Digital Content Supply Directive and related directives (such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). As a core part of this paper, the author examines the relevant contracts and their effects from multiple perspectives regarding the positioning of personal data as compensation under the Digital Content Supply Directive. The analysis in this paper is intended to contribute to future related discussions in Japanese law, and furthermore, to discuss the increasingly prominent relationship between contract law (and consumer protection law) and personal data protection law in EU law and Japanese law. This will be positioned as a first step in further analyzing such intersections.</p>