Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The European Commission announced Tuesday that it has opened formal proceedings against online retailer Shein "for its addictive design, the lack of transparency of recommender systems, as well as the sale of illegal products, including child sexual abuse material."
The Commission said in a press release it was specifically investigating: the systems Shein has to limit the sale of illegal products in the European Union; risks linked to the addictive design of the service and the systems to mitigate those risks; and transparency of the recommender systems that it uses to propose content and products to users.
Under the Digital Services Act, Shein must disclose the parameters used in its recommender systems and it must provide users with at least one easily accessible option that is not based on profiling for each recommender system, the release said. The EU said it found that Shein only explained its recommender "in a very general manner."
"In the EU, illegal products are prohibited -- whether they are on a store shelf or on an online marketplace," Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, in a statement. "The Digital Services Act keeps shoppers safe, protects their wellbeing and empowers them with information about the algorithms they are interacting with. We will assess whether Shein is respecting these rules and their responsibility."
