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Daurk pattern

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A daurk pattern (Inglis: dark pattern; kent as a "deceptive design pattern" an aw) is "a uiser interface thit haes been carefully craftit tae trick fowk intae daein things, sic as buyin owerpriced insurance wi thair purchase or signin up for recurrin bills".[1][2][3] User experience designer Harry Brignull coined the neologism on 28 July 2010 wi the registration o darkpatterns.org, a "pattern library wi the speceefic goal for tae name an shame deceptive uiser interfaces".[4][5]

In 2021 the Electronic Frontier Foundation an Consumer Reports pit thegither a tip line tae gaither information aboot daurk patterns frae the public.[6]

Patterns

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Privacy Zuckering

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"Privacy Zuckering" – named fur Facebook co-foonder an Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg – is a practice thit tricks the user intae pittin oot mair information than thay war meant tae.[7] Uisers micht gie up this information wioot kennin or throu practices thit obscure or pit back the option tae opt out o pittin oot thair private information. California haes approved regulations thit limit this practice bi businesses in the California Consumer Privacy Act.[8]

Bait-and-switch

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Bait-and-switch patterns adverteese a free (or at a gey lawer price) product or service that is halely unavailable or stocked in smaw amoonts. Efter annooncin the product no bein available, the page pits up seemilar products for heicher prices or lesser quality.[9][10]

Confirmshamin

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Confirmshamin uises shame tae drive users to act. For exemple, whan websites pit an option tae pit doun an email newsletter in a wey thit shames veesitors intae acceptin.[10][11]

Misdirection

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Common in saftware instawers, misdirection gies the user a button in the fashion o a teepical continuation button. A daurk pattern wad pit up a prominent "A accept these terms" button askin the user tae accept the terms o a program no relatit tae the yin thay are ettlin tae instaw.[12] Acause the uiser teepically will accept the terms bi force o habit, the unrelatit program can be instawed an aw. The instawer's authors dae this acause the authors o the unrelatit program pay for ivery instaw thit thay rocure. The alternative route in the instawer, allouing the uiser tae skip instawin the unrelatit program, is less visible or haurder tae spot,[13] or seems counter-intuitive (sic as declinin the terms o service).

Some websites thit speir for information thit isnae needit uise misdirection an aw. For exemple, somebody wad fill oot a uisername an trystwird on ae page, an efter clickin the "nixt" button, the page speirs the uiser for thair email address wi anither "next" button as the anerly option.[14] This hides the option tae press "nixt" wioot pittin in the information. In some cases, the page shaws the method tae skip the step as a wee, greyed-oot link insteid o a button, so it daesnae staund oot tae the uiser.[15] Ither exemples include sites offerin a wey tae inveet freends bi pittin in thair email address, tae upload a profile pictur, or tae identifee interests.

Confiusin wording micht be uised to trick uisers intae formally acceptin an option thit thay think haes the opposite meanin an aw. For exemple a personal data processin consent button usin a dooble-negative sic as "dinnae no sell ma personal information"[16]

Roach motel

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A roach motel or a trammel net design gies an easy or straightforward path tae git in but a difficult path tae get oot.[17] Exemples include businesses thit are needin subscribers tae prent an mail oot thair opt-oot or cancellation speirin.[9][10] In 2021, in the Unitit States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) haes annooncit thit thay will ramp up enforcement agin daurk patterns like roach motel thit trick consumers intae signin up for subscriptions or makkin it difficult tae cancel. The FTC haes statit key requirements relatit tae information transparency an clarity, express informed consent, an seemple an easy cancellation.[18]

For exemple, during the 2020 United States presidential election, Donald Trump's WinRed campaign haed a seemilar daurk pattern, pushin uisers taewarts committin tae a recurrin monthly donation.[19]

Resairch

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In 2016 and 2017 research haes documentit social media anti-privacy practices usin daurk patterns.[20][21] In 2018 the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) pit oot "Deceived bi Design," a report on deceptive uiser interface designs frae Facebook, Google an Microsoft. A 2019 study investigatit practices on 11,000 shoppin wab site. It pyntit oot 1818 daurk pattern in total an cooried thaim into 15 category.[22]

Recent resairch frae Apryle 2022 fund thit daurk patterns are still commonly uised in the marketplace, heichlichtin a needin for faurer scrutiny for sic practices bi the public, resairchers an regulators.[23]

Unner the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), aw companies hiv tae obtain unambiguous, freely-gien consent frae customers afore thay gaither an uise ("process") thair personally identifiable information. A 2020 study fund thit "muckle tech" companies aften uised deceptive uiser interfaces for tae discourage thair users frae optin oot.[24] In 2022 a report bi the European Commission fund thit "97% o the maist popular wabsites an apps uised b EU consumers uised at least ae dark pattern."[25]

Legality

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Bait-and-switch is a form o fraud thit violates US law.[26] In the European Union, the GDPR is needin a uiser's informed consent for tae process thair personal information be unambiguous, freely-gien, an speceefic tae ivery uisage o personal information. This is intendit tae beild frae ettlins ta hiv uisers accept aw data processing wioot kennin bi default (thit violates the regulation).[27][28][29][30][31]

In April 2019, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) pit oot a proposed "age-appropriate design code" for the operations o social networking services whan uised bi minors, thit staps fae uisin "nudges" taw draw uisers intae options thit hiv law privacy settins. This code wad be enforceable unner the Data Protection Act 2018.[32] It haes taen effect 2nt September 2020.[33][34]

On 9 Apryle 2019, US senators Deb Fischer an Mark Warner pit forrit the Deceptive Experiences Tae Onwab Uisers Reduction (DETOUR) Act, thit wad mak it illegal for companies wi mair nor 100 million monthly acteeve uisers tae uise daurk patterns whan efter consent for tae uise thair personal information.[35]

In March 2021, California adoptit amendments taw the California Consumer Privacy Act, thit staps the uise o deceptive user interfaces thit hiv "the substantial effect o subvertin or impairin a consumer's chyce tae opt-oot."[16]

In October 2021, the Federal Trade Commission pit oot an enforcement policy statement, annooncin a crackdoun on businesses uisin daurk patterns thit "trick or trap consumers intae subscription services." As a result o risin nummers o complaints, the agency is reponin bi enforcin these consumer pertection laws.[18]

Bi the wey o the European Data Protection Board, the "principle for fair processin laid doun in Airticle 5 (1) (a) GDPR serves as a stertin pynt for tae assess whather a design pattern actual constitutes a 'daurk pattern'."[36]

In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James fined Fareportal $2.6 million for uisin deceptive marketin tactics tae sell airline tickets an hotel rooms[37] andthe Federal Court o Australia fined Expedia Group's Trivago A$44.7 million for misleadin consumers intae peyin heicher prices for hotel room beukins.[38]

In Mairch 2023, the Unitit States Federal Trade Commission fined Fortnite developer Epic Games $245 million for uisin "dark patterns tae trick users intae daein purchases." The $245 million will be uised taw refund affectit customers an is the maist muckle refund amoont ever gien oot bi the FTC in a gemmin case.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. Campbell-Dollaghan, Kelsey (21 December 2016). "The Year Dark Patterns Won". CO.DESIGN. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  2. Singer, Natasha (14 Mey 2016). "When Websites Won't Take No For An Answer". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  3. Nield, David (4 Apryle 2017). "Dark Patterns: The Ways Websites Trick Us Into Giving Up Our Privacy". Gizmodo. Archived frae the original on 2 Julie 2018. Retrieved 30 Mey 2017.
  4. Brignull, Harry (1 November 2011). "Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design". A List Apart. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  5. Grauer, Yael (28 Julie 2016). "Dark Patterns Are Designed to Trick You, and They're All Over the Web". Ars Technica. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  6. Release, Press (19 Mey 2021). "Coalition Launches 'Dark Patterns' Tip Line to Expose Deceptive Technology Design". Electronic Frontier Foundation (in Inglis). Archived frae the original on 19 Mey 2021. Retrieved 27 Mey 2021.
  7. "Dark Patterns - Types of Dark Pattern". www.darkpatterns.org. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  8. "Attorney General Becerra Announces Approval of Additional Regulations That Empower Data Privacy Under the California Consumer Privacy Act". State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General (in Inglis). 15 Mairch 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. a b Snyder, Jesse (10 September 2012). "Dark Patterns in UI and Website Design". evatotuts+. Archived frae the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  10. a b c Brignull, Harry. "Types of Dark Patterns". Dark Patterns. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  11. "UX Dark Patterns: Manipulinks and Confirmshaming". UX Booth (in Inglis). Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  12. "Terms of service for McAffee in μTorrent installer". 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  13. Brinkmann, Martin (17 Julie 2013). "SourceForge's new Installer bundles program downloads with adware". Retrieved 13 October 2018. ... The offer is displayed on the screen, and below that a gray decline button, a green accept button ...
  14. "Why do we need email addresses to create Reddit accounts now?". 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2018. ... you can skip it by leaving it blank.
  15. Schlosser, Dan (5 Juin 2016). "LinkedIn Dark Patterns". Retrieved 13 October 2018. ... you need to find the tiny "Skip this step" link at the bottom right to proceed. Moreover, the link is placed outside of the blue box which ostensibly contains all relevant info or controls. ...
  16. a b Vincent, James (16 Mairch 2021). "California bans 'dark patterns' that trick users into giving away their personal data". The Verge (in Inglis). Retrieved 21 Mairch 2021.
  17. Brignull, Harry (29 August 2013). "Dark patterns: Inside the interfaces designed to trick you". The Verge. Retrieved 29 Mey 2017.
  18. a b "FTC to Ramp up Enforcement against Illegal Dark Patterns that Trick or Trap Consumers into Subscriptions". Federal Trade Commission (in Inglis). 28 October 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  19. Goldmacher, Shane (3 Apryle 2021). "How Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations". The New York Times. Archived frae the original on 1 Mey 2021.
  20. Bösch, Christoph; Erb, Benjamin; Kargl, Frank; Kopp, Henning; Pfattheicher, Stefan (1 October 2016). "Tales from the Dark Side: Privacy Dark Strategies and Privacy Dark Patterns". Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies. 2016 (4): 237–254. doi:10.1515/popets-2016-0038. ISSN 2299-0984.
  21. Fritsch, Lothar (2017). Privacy dark patterns in identity management (in Inglis). Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn. ISBN 978-3-88579-671-8.
  22. Mathur, Arunesh; Acar, Gunes; Friedman, Michael J.; Lucherini, Elena; Mayer, Jonathan; Chetty, Marshini; Narayanan, Arvind (November 2019). "Dark Patterns at Scale: Findings from a Crawl of 11K Shopping Websites". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 3 (CSCW): 81:1–81:32. arXiv:1907.07032. Bibcode:2019arXiv190707032M. doi:10.1145/3359183. ISSN 2573-0142.
  23. Runge, Julian; Wentzel, Daniel; Huh, Ji Young; Chaney, Allison (14 Apryle 2022). ""Dark patterns" in online services: a motivating study and agenda for future research". Marketing Letters (in Inglis). 34: 155–160. doi:10.1007/s11002-022-09629-4. ISSN 1573-059X.
  24. Human, Soheil; Cech, Florian (2021). Zimmermann, Alfred; Howlett, Robert J.; Jain, Lakhmi C. (eds.). "A Human-Centric Perspective on Digital Consenting: The Case of GAFAM". Human Centred Intelligent Systems. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies (in Inglis). Singapore: Springer. 189: 139–159. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-5784-2_12. ISBN 978-981-15-5784-2.
  25. European Commission. Directorate General for Justice and Consumers (2022). Behavioural study on unfair commercial practices in the digital environment: dark patterns and manipulative personalisation : final report. LU: Publications Office. doi:10.2838/859030. ISBN 9789276523161.
  26. Title 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations § 238
  27. "Understanding 'trust' and 'consent' are the real keys to embracing GDPR". The Drum (in Inglis). Retrieved 10 Apryle 2019.
  28. "Facebook and Google hit with $8.8 billion in lawsuits on day one of GDPR". The Verge. Archived frae the original on 25 Mey 2018. Retrieved 26 Mey 2018.
  29. "Max Schrems files first cases under GDPR against Facebook and Google". The Irish Times (in Inglis). Archived frae the original on 25 Mey 2018. Retrieved 26 Mey 2018.
  30. "Facebook, Google face first GDPR complaints over 'forced consent'". TechCrunch. 25 Mey 2018. Archived frae the original on 26 Mey 2018. Retrieved 26 Mey 2018.
  31. Meyer, David. "Google, Facebook hit with serious GDPR complaints: Others will be soon" (in Inglis). ZDNet. Archived frae the original on 28 Mey 2018. Retrieved 26 Mey 2018.
  32. "Under-18s face 'like' and 'streaks' limits". BBC News (in Inglis). 15 Apryle 2019. Retrieved 15 Apryle 2019.
  33. Lomas, Natasha (22 Januar 2020). "UK watchdog sets out 'age appropriate' design code for online services to keep kids' privacy safe". TechCrunch (in Inglis). Retrieved 9 Apryle 2023.
  34. Lomas, Natasha (1 September 2021). "UK now expects compliance with children's privacy design code". TechCrunch (in Inglis). Retrieved 9 Apryle 2023.
  35. Kelly, Makena (9 Apryle 2019). "Big Tech's 'dark patterns' could be outlawed under new Senate bill". The Verge. Retrieved 10 Apryle 2019.
  36. "Guidelines 3/2022 on Dark patterns in social media platform interfaces: How to recognise and avoid them" (PDF). European Data Protection Board.
  37. "Assurance of discontinuance" (PDF). Mairch 2022.
  38. "Australia fines Expedia Group's Trivago $33 million on misleading hotel room rates". au.finance.yahoo.com (in Inglis). Retrieved 14 Juin 2022.
  39. "Fortnite Video Game Maker Epic Games to Pay More Than Half a Billion Dollars over FTC Allegations of Privacy Violations and Unwanted Charges". Mairch 2023.

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