Our theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2019 was ‘Trusted Smart Products’.
From smartphones to wearable fitness trackers, to voice-activated assistants and smart TVs, many of the products we use are increasingly becoming connected by default.
This World Consumers Rights Day, we highlighted what consumers want and need from a connected world and how important it is to put them at the heart of the development of these digital products and services.
If you would like to learn more about this year's campaign, you can download our public campaign outline and Trusted Smart Products briefing (also available in Spanish, French and Arabic).
You can also download our social media resources in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.
Smart products are connected to the internet and receive, collect and send data. Globally, there are currently 23.1 billion smart products in the world, outnumbering people three to one.
As more people come online across the world and our connection to the internet becomes better and faster, smart products will become more of a day-to-day reality for consumers everywhere, marking a major change in the way many consumers interact with products and services.
The emergence of smart technology brings many opportunities for consumers; access to new services, more responsive products, greater convenience and choice. There are, however, some significant causes for concern: lack of security, privacy and meaningful choice over how we use them, as well as a lack of clarity about who is responsible when things go wrong.
There are also issues around lack of access, with millions of people globally locked out of this new technology by overly high data charges.
On 15 March, the global consumer movement came together for a record breaking World Consumer Rights Day 2019
The #BetterDigitalWorld campaign on social media received our best ever reach, deliver our message to a total of 14.9 million accounts globally. The campaign was supported by a wide range of consumer groups, businesses, governments, civil society and the wider public.
Thanks to our members, World Consumer Rights Day 2019 was celebrated in over 96 countries, with activities ranging from exhibitions to awareness competitions to TV shows.
This year 137 members in over 90 countries are coming together to mark World Consumer Rights Day. Explore our interactive map to find out how the day was celebrated in your region. To view our interactive map in Spanish, click here.
For World Consumer Rights Day 2019, we ran a live blog, sharing images, event updates, blogs and articles from our membership to show how World Consumer Rights Day was celebrated by the global consumer movement.
To view our live blog in Spanish, click here.
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