Data protection and consumer protection: The empowerment of the citizen-consumer

There has been an ongoing discussion of the overlaps and complementary functions of privacy and data protection and consumer protection law. However, although much of this has remained at a rather abstract level, recent legislative changes are illustrative of a more practical shift towards 'aligned' protection. But what does this mean in practice? It is undoubtedly clear that the data and consumer protection policy agendas share common ground, but one must wonder whether the alignment of these respective policy agendas also gives rise to problems. The purpose of the analysis is to present some insights into the key legislative developments and overarching theoretical challenges by focusing on the General Data Protection Regulation and the specific reference to the Unfair Terms Directive in Recital 42 of the Regulation. In essence, this analysis will act as a litmus test of the difficulties associated with the alignment of these areas of law more generally.