Research On The Legal Regulation Of Algorithmic Price Discrimination

With the rapid development of internet technology,big data has been widely used by internet operators in their business practices.By collecting consumer information and building a huge database of personal information,internet operators use algorithmic technology to accurately profile consumers and form algorithmic price discrimination.The algorithms discriminate against different consumers by offering different prices for the same product,thereby extracting undue economic benefits.This behaviour has a negative impact on personal information,consumer rights and the normal order of market operations.Algorithmic price discrimination is targeted,technical,concealed and dynamic,which has led to several problems in the regulation of algorithmic price discrimination under current domestic law: the lack of transparency in algorithms has led to an information gap and it is difficult for consumers to prove that they have been subject to algorithmic price discrimination;the legal system on the regulation of algorithms is not yet complete;and the relative lag in domestic regulatory concepts has hindered the effective regulation of algorithmic price discrimination.The legal system on algorithmic price discrimination is not yet in place.At present,the EU’s regulation of algorithmic price discrimination is centred on the protection of personal information,the US is based on civil rights,and Japan has learned from the advanced experience of the US and the EU to combine the two,with each having its own advantages and disadvantages.In this regard,China can draw on the experience of foreign laws to improve the regulation of algorithmic price discrimination in China.The Consumer Protection Law,the Electronic Commerce Law,the Personal Information Protection Law and other laws and regulations all regulate price discrimination in algorithms to a greater or lesser extent,but in order to get rid of the dilemma of regulating price discrimination in algorithms at the root,the following points need to be achieved: firstly,to reasonably improve the transparency of algorithms in order to open the algorithm "black box" Secondly,we should improve the criteria for determining unfair prices,broaden the scope of consumers’ right to know,refine the criteria of the E-Commerce Law and supplement the principle of "informed consent" in the protection of personal information to improve the legislative system for regulating algorithmic price discrimination;finally,we should improve the regulatory system for algorithmic price discrimination.Finally,the regulatory system of algorithmic price discrimination should be improved.China has already established the National Data Bureau,which can exercise effective supervision over algorithms and build industry selfregulation in the big data industry.