Norwegian Consumer Council

The Consumer Council of Norway (Norwegian: Forbrukerrådet) is a Norwegian government agency and consumer protection organisation established in 1953.[1] It works to increase consumer influence in society, to contribute to consumer-friendly developments, and to promote measures that strengthen the position of consumers. The Norwegian government funds the Consumer Council, leaving it free to develop an independent consumer policy and independent of commercial interests and other organisations.

Structure

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The Consumer Council has its own board of directors and statutes laid down by the Ministry of Children and Equality and is chaired by Director Inger Lise Blyverket. Approximately 80 people work at the Consumer Council's office in Oslo.

The Consumer Council helps put consumer questions on the agenda and promote consumers' interests by influencing authorities, organisations, and businesses; educating consumers through information, advice, and guidance; and helping individual consumers.

Consumer policy

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The Consumer policy department runs the Consumer Council's work to influence governmental and business life in a consumer-friendly direction through dialogue, impact work and publications. The policy work is aimed at areas that have a high economic impact for consumers, where consumer satisfaction is low, and potentially could to affect all sectors.

In some cases, existing regulations are not enough, and the Consumer Council is therefore working politically to strengthen legal consumer protection. In other cases, the work is about affecting the competitive situation and how markets operate.

The Consumer Council also has an extensive international cooperation with sister organizations in Europe, and especially with the umbrella organization in Brussels; BEUC.

The priority policy areas of the Consumer Council are sustainability, digital services, and economic exclusion.

Assisting consumers

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Each year, 50 000 consumers directly contact the Norwegian Consumer Council for assistance.

Profiled cases

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References

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  1. ^ Forbrukerrådet
  2. ^ "ITunes' questionable terms and conditions - forbrukerportalen.no". forbrukerportalen.no. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007.
  3. ^ Kaldestad, Øyvind (2016-05-25). "The Consumer Council and friends read app terms for 32 hours". Forbrukerrådet. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  4. ^ a b "Manipulativ design". Forbrukerrådet (in English and Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  5. ^ "Grindr and OkCupid Spread Personal Details, Study Says". The New York Times. 2020-01-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  6. ^ a b "Out of Control". Forbrukerrådet. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. ^ Struksnæs, Maren (2022-05-31). "Loot boxes: How the gaming industry manipulates and exploits consumers". Forbrukerrådet. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. ^ Kaldestad, Øyvind (2023-06-07). "Webinar and launch of a new report on generative artificial intelligence". Forbrukerrådet (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ^ Chowdhary, Krishi (2023-07-12). "Norway's Data Guardians Decry AI's Unchecked Intrusions". The Tech Report. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  10. ^ "Norwegian data privacy experts sound alarm over generative AI | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  11. ^ "Norwegian Consumer Council warns of generative AI threats, presents principles & recommendations to protect human rights". Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  12. ^ "Generative AI". Forbrukerrådet (in English and Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-01-10.
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