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Digital Fairness Act: A missed opportunity
Instead of trying to make a big splash with the law for digital fairness, the EU Commission is limiting itself to patchwork in a few areas. Against the dangers of online tracking and data trading
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Instead of trying to make a big splash with the law for digital fairness, the EU Commission is limiting itself to patchwork in a few areas. European consumers remain unprotected from the dangers of online tracking and data trading. A comment.
That thehttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/gesetz-zur-digitalen-fairness-wie-die-eu-ve...featured https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_2407">DigitalFairness Act(DFA) of the EU would not become the “Christmas tree regulation” that some had hoped for, under which gifts would end up for everyone, and it had been apparent for some time. It is now clear that the commission is not even trying to make a big splash, but is content with a little tinkering.
It left it with a few (more or less) strict rules on addictive and manipulative design, better protection against subscription traps and the financial exploitation of young gamers, as well as an expansion of the ban on advertising targeting of minors. The commission obviously couldn't bring itself to do much more.
This is not surprising given the current political climate in Brussels (and Berlin). The signs point to de-regulation instead of new regulation. Under the pretext of reducing bureaucracy, Ursula von der Leyen's commission is currently laying thishttps://netzpolitik.org/2025/digitaler-omnibus-auf-crash-kurs-mit-digita...to numerous lawssome of which she only brought into the world in the last legislative period.
Few people are likely to be surprised by the timid DFA serve. And yet one can be disappointed because it would have needed more. The new digital law would have been a unique opportunity to finally eliminate the biggest problem in digital consumer protection: the misuse of data in the online advertising industry, from invasive tracking to uncontrolled data trading.
EU digital regulation is failing
There is an urgent need for action here,https://netzpolitik.org/2026/eu-studie-bei-online-werbung-versagen-die-eu...The EU has just conducted a mega study, which the Commission itself commissioned. Onhttps://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d466f207-d7fd-1...pagesThe study explains in detail how many problems the online advertising industry causes in its current form - and how existing digital regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation fail.
To put this into concrete points: netzpolitik.org was able to prove howhttps://netzpolitik.org/2023/microsofts-datenmarktplatz-xandr-das-sind-6...monitoring the advertising industryand how detailed the categories are into which she sorts us – from “Moms who shop like crazy” to “Gambling Addiction”. Online advertising is the perfect tool for anyone who wants to precisely manipulate individuals and the public, from scammers to political populists.
In other research, we have shown that the online advertising industry's extensive data collections no longer remain in the advertising ecosystem, but acrosshttps://netzpolitik.org/databroker-files/">Databrokerfind their way onto the free market. In billions of location data that was supposedly collected solely for advertising purposes, we foundhttps://netzpolitik.org/2025/databroker-files-datenhaendler-verkaufen-me...Movement profiles of high-ranking EU officials.
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Just a few weeks ago, a new study was able to demonstrate how online advertising is being misusedhttps://netzpolitik.org/2026/werbeblocker-obligatorisch-geraete-lassen-s...with spy softwareto infect. A veritable goldmine for spies and one in times of hybrid warfarehttps://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/europes-hidden-security-crisis/">Dangerfor the security of Europe.
And then online advertising is the most important source of income for many US tech companies, which, in alliance with the White House, ignore European tech regulations. Remarkably, the EU study makes it clear that the current online advertising ecosystem is not only a risk for people in Europe, but also harms advertisers and publishers due to its reliance on intermediaries such as Google and Meta.
Waiting for the “Digital Advertising Act”
To sell a few more shoes and diet drinks, the online advertising industry has built the largest surveillance apparatus in history. At the same time, online advertising is a market in which there are practically only losers, with the exception of AdTech companies.
The study could have served the EU Commission as a perfect template for an ambitious Digital Fairness Act. The authors make numerous suggestions for new regulatory approaches as well as updates to existing EU laws, especially the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
The EU Commission is now letting this opportunity pass by. For consumers this means: they have tohttps://netzpolitik.org/digitale-selbstdefense/">continueprotect yourselfand hope that it will come at some point, the big hit in the form of a “Digital Advertising Act”.
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