As Chinese C-commerce companies such as Ali and Temu expand their domestic market share through ultra-low-price offensives, consumer dissatisfaction is increasing due to problems such as successive personal information leaks and detection of hazardous substances, but there is currently no plan to regulate overseas businesses.

Accordingly, experts have come to a consensus that it is urgent to establish a legal basis to prevent and address consumer damage targeting overseas platforms.

On the 7th, a discussion was held at the National Assembly Members’ Hall on the topic of consumer damage and prospects due to the entry of Chinese platforms into the domestic market, hosted by Rep. Kang Min-guk of the National Assembly Power Party. This event was hosted by the Korea Consumer Law Association, the Korea Consumer Federation, and the Korea Online Shopping Association, and sponsored by the Fair Trade Commission and the Personal Information Protection Commission.

The average growth rate of the top three global e-commerce companies has been 41% over the past five years. In particular, Coupang maintained its top spot in platform usage rankings until May of this year, but Ali and Temu rose to second and fifth place, respectively.

However, while the direct purchase amount reached 6.8 trillion from 5.1 trillion in 2021, consumer complaints increased by about 5 times. This year, the number of Ali and Temu consumer complaints reached 740. The items include clothing and shoes, electronic products, cultural goods, and auto parts.

The main problem is the unprotected distribution of items whose safety has not been confirmed. While products sold in Korea are given the KC certification mark, products on global online platforms only receive domestic safety certification.

China Compulsory Product Certification (CCC) is a quality certification system for electrical and electronic products and automobiles. However, according to relevant laws, items purchased overseas for personal use, not for sale or rental, are exempt from domestic safety certification, making it difficult to request corrections from sellers.

There are also concerns about personal information leaks due to the implementation of MyData in all areas including distribution. Secretary General Jeong Ji-yeon of the Korea Consumer Agency explained, “When using Chinese platforms, the information subject cannot know the purpose for which personal information will be used because they do not notify the user of the purpose based on comprehensive consent.”

For example, the clause in Temu’s comprehensive agreement that “all SNS can be accessed” means that the use and collection of copyrighted works is possible. Recently, a fine of about 2 billion won was imposed on Ali, but it is unclear whether the deletion of personal information was carried out smoothly afterwards.

Illegal dark patterns are also a problem. Dark patterns refer to UIs designed to deceive online users. For example, consumers cannot know the 'real price'.

Accordingly, Professor Son Hong-rak of Dong-A University Law School argued, "We need to regulate unfair aspects, such as banning increasingly sophisticated AI-based dark patterns, and develop guidelines."

Professor Son also argued that "management systems must be homogenized to solve consumer safety issues worldwide." For example, the EU has created mutual certification to homogenize each country's management systems. It is expected that OECD standards will be established at the Consumer Ministerial Meeting in October 2024.

Meanwhile, the government announced overseas platform consumer protection measures in March. It was revealed that the Fair Trade Commission and the Consumer Agency are investigating violations of the Electronic Commerce Act and revising related laws.

Rep. Kang Min-guk said, "We will confirm the damage to consumers caused by c-commerce, check whether the current government's countermeasures are insufficient, and the ruling and opposition parties will put their heads together to find a solution."