Highlights - Public hearing: Digital advertising and consumer information - 17 February - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

With the digital revolution and in particular the ever growing online shopping sector, we notice a shift in advertising, moving from the traditional concept of a "consumer" to the "user" of websites, online platforms and social media. Users are often subject to targeted advertising that can influence their choice and constitute profiling. While advertising via traditional channels has to abide by strict rules, digital advertisement is vastly unregulated.

This has led to e.g. children being exposed to unsuitable advertisement or to social media in particular being used to promote counterfeit products.

Against this background, the aim of this event is to hear academia and stakeholders' views, both from the business side and from organisations dealing with consumer protection, on how consumers are informed and if they have a choice when it comes to online profiling (panel 1); as well as if consumers and especially vulnerable groups are protected from disguised digital advertising (panel 2).

This hearing is open to the public. If you are not in possession of an entrance badge to the European Parliament please contact the IMCO Secretariat (imco-secretariat@ep.europa.eu) providing the following details: full name, date of birth, nationality, the type of identity card (passport, drivers licence, ID card etc.) and the number of the ID card) no later than 13 February 2020 at 12:00