EU proposes banning loot boxes for kids and the design tricks that keep you subscribed

The European Commission has unveiled the Digital Fairness Act, a consumer-protection law aimed squarely at the design tricks that apps, games and online stores use to keep people spending, scrolling and subscribed.

The proposal would replace the EU's 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive with a single regulation that applies directly in all 27 member states, instead of 27 separate national versions. It would cover any business selling to people in the EU, wherever that business is based.

Dark patterns

The act includes a general ban on manipulative interface design, plus an annex of practices that would be banned in every circumstance. According to Euronews, which reviewed the text before publication, the list includes around ten tactics, among them false "only a few left" stock claims, pre-ticked add-ons and nagging pop-ups. The Commission could add to the list later without reopening the whole law.

Games and loot boxes

Gaming gets some of the toughest rules in the package:

• Paid loot boxes would have to disclose their odds, would be banned outright for players under 18, and every player, adult or not, could switch them off.
• In-game currencies would have to show their real-money value, and would be off by default for minors unless a parent approves.
• Pay-to-win and pay-to-progress mechanics would be off-limits for minors.

An off switch for adults

Adults would get something rare in tech regulation: the right to turn off features designed, or reasonably expected, to encourage compulsive use. The proposal would also ban profiling-based advertising aimed at minors, restrict personalised pricing that could hurt minors or vulnerable consumers, and require influencers to disclose paid content, with the brands and agencies behind them sharing responsibility when they don't.

Subscriptions

• A free trial couldn't turn into a paid plan unless the customer actively agrees.
• Renewals would come with reminders.
• Cancelling would have to work online in a few clicks, and customers would keep the right to reach a human.

Enforcement and what happens next

A parallel update to the EU's consumer-protection cooperation rules would let the Commission investigate major cross-border cases itself, with fines of up to 6% of a company's global turnover, according to Euronews. The Commission's own impact assessment estimates about €88.4 billion in reduced harm to consumers over a decade, against roughly €678 million a year in costs for businesses.

Nothing changes for users yet. The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and to member state governments, where fights over protecting minors online are already familiar, and negotiations are expected to take years. But the direction is set, and companies that rely on these mechanics, from mobile game publishers to subscription apps, will be lobbying hard over the details.