ABSTRACT
Contracts are ubiquitous online. Clickwrap and browsewrap agreements are to be encountered on almost every website a person engages with when accessing services online. Through these documents, people enter into binding contractual relationships, often without reading and sometimes without noticing these documents, when they engage with a wide variety of services online. This article discusses the use of contracts by the direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT) industry, as the dominant means of industry self-regulation. To date limited attention has been paid to these contracts. This article reviews the contracts of 71 companies that provide a variety of tests for health purposes. It considers these contracts from a consumer protection standpoint and identifies a number of problematic terms that may be challengeable under the UK’s consumer legislation and concludes by discussing the recent work potential for the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority to establish and enforce clear standards for DTCGT contracts.
Phillips, Andelka M, Reading the Fine Print when Buying Your Genetic Self Online: Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Terms and Conditions (August 9, 2017). New Genetics and Society (2017) 36:3, 273-295. DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2017.1352468.
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