The right to repair is a right that is becoming more commonly discussed in our everyday lives. However, you may have found yourself wondering, “What is the right to repair?” This article explains what the right to repair is, and why it’s important.

The Right to Repair

The right to repair is a consumer right, mainly for electronic devices, that consists of a few things. The first part of the right to repair is the ability to order spare parts of devices. For example, if Apple gives consumers the right to repair iPhones, then they must sell the parts of an iPhone. After all, how are you going to replace any parts without having the parts you need? Another part of this right is the right to no anti-repair practices. One example of an anti-repair practice is deliberately making a device difficult to repair in effort to stop anyone, or at least “non-authorized” people from disassembling and/or repairing the device. Furthermore, the right to device documentation is part of the right to repair. These rights allow anyone to be able to repair devices.

Why the Right to Repair is Important

The right to repair is important for several reasons. The first reason why the right to repair is important is because it stops companies from forcing consumers to pay an unnecessary amount of money for device repairs. If a device is only to be repaired at an “authorized” repair store, then the manufacturer can make a repair that only costs $30 in parts charge the consumer $100. It is an anti-consumer move in the blindness of more money, and that’s even assuming it’s manufactured to be repairable. In addition to this, the right to repair lets anyone repair their own device, or appoint someone to repair a device for them, letting the repair be done in the privacy of one’s home. There won’t be any worries of unauthorized access to things such as the device’s storage, meaning the consumer’s data is secure. While these things are great, as they benefit the consumer, it gets better – the right to repair benefits the environment as well. Tons of electronic waste is produced each year, which hurts the environment and wastes the materials that were used to make the now junk. Anti-repair contributes to this electronic waste, and consumers might throw away a device if they can’t afford proprietary repair service on it anyways.

What You Can Do

To support the right to repair, you can spread the word to other people. Making other people aware that this is a right as a consumer can help make this be an official law where you live, if it isn’t already. You can also look into ways you can promote what you feel should be a law in your country.

Conclusion

Overall, the right to repair is an essential right for consumers. This right saves the consumer money, lets either the consumer or someone they trust repair their own device, keeps the device and its data secure, and helps the environment. Looking into ways to promote the right to repair in the way you would promote anything else you want to be a law can help make this right be truly given to you.