EU Digital Fairness Act Draft Ties AI Shopping Agents to Incentives
A leaked draft of the European Union's Digital Fairness Act would force AI shopping agents to ask for fresh consumer approval when their provider profits
A leaked draft of the European Union's Digital Fairness Act would force AI shopping agents to ask for fresh consumer approval when their provider profits from a recommendation. The draft also proposes fines of up to 6% of a company's annual global turnover for unfair digital trade practices.
The European Commission's justice chief, Michael McGrath, is due to present the proposal on Wednesday. It must then be negotiated with EU member states and the European Parliament before it can become law.
What the draft says about AI shopping agents
Article 26 of the draft lets consumers hand purchasing decisions to an AI agent. There is a catch. If the agent's provider gets paid for proposing a contract, or has a conflict of interest involving the merchant, the user must approve the deal again.
The clause tries to square delegated buying with the paid recommendations that underpin much of online commerce. Services funded by commissions, and promising to buy without human involvement, would face the tightest limits.
Barry Scannell, a partner at Irish law firm William Fry, flagged the provision in a LinkedIn analysis on Tuesday, Nov. 10. He described consumer protection as the emerging framework for governing commercial AI agents.
His example was a hotel booking. An agent working inside an approved budget could still need a confirmation if its pick carries a commercial incentive.
For providers, that could turn authorization into a product feature with legal consequences, Scannell's analysis suggested.
Wider crackdown on manipulative design
The agent rules sit inside a broader package. According to the draft, so-called dark patterns, meaning deceptive or manipulative interface designs that steer people toward purchases, would be classed as unfair commercial practices and banned outright.
Companies that use such tactics to push people to spend more, or that serve personalized advertising to children, risk the 6% fine. The draft also targets personalized ads aimed at vulnerable consumers.
Traders would have to let users switch off features that encourage compulsive or excessive use. The draft lists autoplay, notifications unrelated to a user's own activity, and streak-style reward mechanics that keep people coming back.
What happens next
The negotiation with member states and the Parliament typically takes months and often reshapes the final text. The provisions described here come from a leaked draft, so the version McGrath presents on Wednesday may differ.
The act is the latest European push to rein in Big Tech, e-commerce and social media companies.
