Legal Regulation Of Algorithmic Price Discrimination

With the continuous advancement of the digital China strategy,China is accelerating its entry into the digital society.The wide application of digital technology has effectively improved the efficiency of social operation,but the improper application of technology has also caused a series of problems.In the platform economy,the platform implements algorithmic price discrimination based on personal pricing,which reduces consumers’ rights to personal information and the right to know,and disrupts the order of market transactions.The legal regulatory effect of algorithmic price discrimination is directly related to the protection of consumer rights and interests and the maintenance of market competition order.However,at present,there are still difficulties in China’s legal regulation of this behavior.At the level civil law,the standard clauses or "disagree or exit" service model provided by the platform have gradually evolved into a tool to force consumers to agree to authorization,making consumers’ personal informed consent rights a formality,and consumers’ rights protection also has difficulties.At the level of economic law,the rapid development of the digital economy has made it difficult for individuals to meet the realistic requirements of antimonopoly review for determining competitive damages based on consumer welfare or total social welfare,and the rapidly changing trading conditions in the platform economy have also made it difficult to determine the same trading conditions.At the level of administrative law,factors such as unclear regulatory entities,insufficient regulatory measures,and small administrative penalties make the supervision of algorithmic price discrimination difficult.At the level of judicial protection,there is a lack of unified judicial recognition standards,and the abuse of defense grounds such as technological neutrality and trade secrets makes it difficult to determine the judicial determination of algorithm price discrimination.The European Union is based on the right to personal data,and the United States is based on price discrimination,forming a unique regulatory system.On this basis,combined with China’s specific reality,useful reference can be made from the following two aspects: first,to build a personal data protection framework based on personal data rights,and second,to establish an effective industry supervision association,organically combine industry supervision with government supervision,and enhance the effect of supervision.In order to construct a systematic legal regulation path for algorithmic price discrimination,it can be carried out from the following aspects: At the level of civil law,on the basis of protecting freedom of contract,the information processing behavior of platforms can be regulated by implementing the principle of substantive informed consent,and the occurrence of algorithmic price discrimination can be curbed from the level of information utilization.At the level of economic law,the rapid development of the digital economy has made it difficult for individuals to meet the realistic requirements of anti-monopoly review for determining competitive damages based on consumer welfare or total social welfare,and the rapidly changing trading conditions in the platform economy have also made it difficult to determine the same trading conditions.At the level of administrative law,improve supervision methods and means,clarify the scope of algorithm disclosure,and improve the transparency of algorithms.At the level of judicial protection,the Supreme People’s Court is to issue typical cases to guide judicial practice,providing a unified recognition standard for judicial practice;Improve measures such as online dispute resolution mechanisms,partial reversal of the burden of proof,and punitive damages to protect consumers’ claims.