CONSUMER VULNERABILITY IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: ABUSIVE PRACTICES AND IGNORANCE OF BASIC RIGHTS

Abstract

The present article addresses the limited knowledge of basic consumer rights and the exposure to abusive practices in e-commerce. Accordingly, the general objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between the lack of awareness of basic consumer rights and consumers' vulnerability to abusive practices in online commerce. The specific objective is to identify the main abusive practices faced by consumers in the digital environment. The relevance of this topic within the field of knowledge lies in the boost that e-commerce experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing with it new challenges for consumer protection, especially regarding misleading advertising, abusive practices, and the security of personal data. For this reason, the central issue of this study revolves around abusive practices in e-commerce, as well as the lack of knowledge of basic rights by consumers. Thus, the research is exploratory in nature, adopting a qualitative approach, with technical procedures carried out through a bibliographic review. It was concluded that the accelerated growth of e-commerce expanded access to consumer goods but also exposed consumers to an environment prone to abuse, fraud, and manipulation, intensified by the information gap and the lack of legal knowledge among the population.