G20 leaders renew commitment to support consumer protection in the digital economy

The leaders of the G20 countries made a clear commitment to support consumer protection in the digital economy last week in the Declaration released at the end of the two-day meeting in Buenos Aires on 1 December.

The G20 leaders declaration confirms that the G20 countries will continue to work to enhance consumer trust in the digital economy, as well as protecting consumer privacy and personal data.

The inclusion of this commitment is a culmination of Consumers International’s work during the Argentine G20 presidency.  This began in May with the second ever G20 Consumer Summit took place in Buenos Aires in May, co-organised by Consumers International and the Argentinian National Directorate of Consumer Defence. This followed the first G20 Consumer Summit which we co-hosted as part of the German presidency in 2017. The summit in Buenos Aires saw the launch of our #SecureToys campaign calling on G20 countries to improve security and data protection of children’s connected products and services.

In August this year, more detailed recommendations made by G20 Digital Ministers in Salta, again highlighting the importance of protecting children online. The final declaration released last week takes forward these recommendations, renewing the commitment to building consumer trust for everyone in the digital economy.

Policies and initiatives for a better digital world

The final declaration also welcomed the initiative of Argentina to create a G20 Digital Repository of Digital Policies. This follows on from Consumers International’s Digital Index, a searchable collection of  more than 200 digital policies and initiatives from across the world that aim to protect and empower consumers, funded by the  German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).   

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Looking ahead to 2019

Consumers International looks forward to continuing working with G20 governments, including the Japanese Presidency of the G20, to ensure that consumer protection remains high on the G20 agenda in 2019 and beyond.

Next year, we will also be partnering with the Consumer Directorate-General of Portugal, with the support of Portuguese Ministry of Economy, to host our first global digital consumer summit in Lisbon.

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