The effects of the use of algorithms in e-commerce and consumers

Authors

Abstract

This research describes some of the risks caused by the use of algorithms in electronic commerce (e-commerce) and analyzes the relationship between its use and the transformation of the structural vulnerability of consumers into hypervulnerability. The first and second part of the study describe the concept of algorithm, the operation of e-commerce and how the use of technology affects it. The third and fourth part explore the concept of hypervulnerability, specifically the hypervulnerability of the digital consumer; ending with the analysis of those situations of risk of vulnerability in electronic commerce (dark patterns), and the discrimination that affects digital consumers, due to price differentiation implemented by algorithms.

Keywords:

Algorithms, e-commerce, hypervulnerable consumer, dark patterns

Author Biography

Natalia Bolivar-Gacitúa, Abogada, Chile

Abogada de la Universidad Santo Tomás. Máster y doctora en Derecho por la Universidad de Salamanca.