Reading list

Deceptive patterns (aka 'dark patterns') are a rapidly growing area of research, particularly in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Law.

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A companion piece of legislation focused on online platforms, the Digital Services Act, will impact 19 platforms, including five Google services, Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, and Microsoft's Bing search engine

News and press
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Kevin Purdy
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November 17, 2023

New paper by me: "Psychological Patterns and Article 5 of the AI Act" AI-Powered Deceptive Design in the #SystemArchitecture & the #UserInterface

Background reading
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M.R. Leiser
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November 13, 2023

Using various techniques of web design, collectively called dark patterns, airlines and online travel portals are manipulating air travellers into paying more than they would ideally like to.

News and press
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Aditya Bhargava
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November 8, 2023

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, in collaboration with "IIT(BHU) Varanasi", has launched the 'Dark Patterns Buster Hackathon 2023'. For further details, please visit: https://doca.gov.in/DarkPatternsBusterHackathon/ For registration: https://dpbh2023.in/registration.html

News and press
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IITBHU_Varanasi
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November 1, 2023

Bravo to @Datatilsynet . EDPB has voted to extend the Norwegian ban on Metas behavioural advertising without proper consent to the whole EU, and directed Ireland to implement the ban. Norwegian authority says it’s doubts Meta’s new consent or pay is legal.

News and press
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johnnyryan
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November 1, 2023

Our paper "Legitimate Interest is the New Consent -- Large-Scale Measurement and Legal Compliance of IAB Europe TCF Paywalls" got accepted at @WPES_workshop ! This is a joint work by @vctrmrl , Fredholm, Thunberg, and myself. Here's the link

Background reading
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Victor Morel, Cristiana Santos, Viktor Fredholm, Adam Thunberg
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October 13, 2023

. @RichardRWhittle and I wrote about dark patterns, and our ongoing research, for @ConversationUK . Incidentally, I can't help but think the new link displays on this platform are ripe for manipulation...

Background reading
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Richard Whittle & Stuart Mills
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October 10, 2023

These additional regulatory compliances may stagnate the growth of India’s digital economy by having an adverse effect on the ease of doing business,” [said] the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), an industry association representing companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Spotify

News and press
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Law
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Sarasvati NT
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October 10, 2023

. @jagograhakjago has released draft Guidelines on the Prevention & Regulation of Dark Patterns. While a good start, there’s room to address consumer privacy and enhance feedback mechanisms. Check out our submissions

Law
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News and press
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Disha Verma & Prateek Waghre
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October 10, 2023

You know those annoying types of "convenience" fees that get tacked on to all sorts of products and services? Get this... The FTC has proposed a rule to ban junk fees that cost consumers tens of billions of dollars each year!

Law
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News and press
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DouglasLFarrar
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October 10, 2023

The Indian government has issued a draft statement on dark patterns

Primary reading
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Law
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darkpatterns
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October 3, 2023

Excited to share my new article, Regulating Dark Patterns, forthcoming in @NDJICL . Key theses and summary below: 1/8 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4588652 @darkpatterns , @Aston_REACH , @AstonLawSchool , @Aston_ACE

Background reading
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Martin Brenncke
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September 30, 2023

Popular Japanese mobile apps have malicious design elements called dark patterns or deceptive user interface designs, researchers from Tokyo Tech have found. A new class of dark patterns, called 'Linguistic Dead-Ends,' of types 'Untranslation' and 'Alphabet Soup,' was also discovered.

Background reading
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Shun Hidaka, Sota Kobuki, Mizuki Watanabe, and Katie Seaborn
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September 29, 2023

Read @carolinesinders 's inisghtful article on why crafting a definition for #deceptivedesign is harder than it seems. She explores- Where do boundaries of exploitative design stop and bad design or poor product start? @shyamkrishnak1 @Pranava_Insti

Background reading
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Caroline Sinders
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September 29, 2023

The government has agreed to proposals that would allow Australians to opt out of targeted advertising, require search engines to "de-index" certain information about them, and draw small businesses into Australia's privacy scheme.

News and press
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Law
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Jake Evans
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September 28, 2023

Recent paper in @PNASNews looking at default effects in political campaign contributions These defaults increased campaign donations by over $43 million while increasing requested refunds by almost $3 million

Background reading
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Nathaniel Posner, Andrey Simonov, Kellen Mrkva, and Eric J. Johnson
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September 26, 2023

Browser choice screens are back on the menu. Most notably, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) will require them from 2024. New research from Mozilla shows that the the UX design of these screens is is critical in making sure they're effective:

Background reading
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darkpatterns
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September 23, 2023

This study aimed to explore how financial technology companies employed dark patterns to influence investors’ financial decision-making and behavior

Background reading
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Ivana Rakovic & Yavuz Inal
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September 22, 2023

Should protection be afforded to all online users, or only to certain vulnerable groups that are more susceptible to manipulation? Using a novel empirical design, we test the susceptibility of different groups to a range of dark patterns.

Background reading
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Zac, Amit and Huang, Yun-Chun and von Moltke, Amédée and Decker, Christopher and Ezrachi, Ariel
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September 22, 2023

We found users are constantly juggling between privacy, utility, and convenience, affected by flawed mental models and dark patterns.

Background reading
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Zhiping Zhang, Michelle Jia, Hao-Ping (Hank)Lee, Bingsheng Yao, Sauvik Das, Ada Lerner, Dakuo Wang, Tianshi Li
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September 20, 2023

Companies that violate Americans’ privacy by seeking to monetize personal data without consent can face significant financial consequences

News and press
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Colin Lecher
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September 19, 2023

The increasing popularity of virtual assistants (VAs) raises concerns about deceptive design (also referred to as dark patterns), that is, design tricks to influence users into buying or engaging more, hijacking their decision-making capability.

Background reading
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Silvia De Conca
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September 18, 2023

A great illustration of privacy and 'threads' and the limitations of Apple's app privacy transparency notification requirements

Background reading
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PrivacyMatters
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September 13, 2023

My research paper wt colleagues at @sciencespo about dark patterns online has been published today. The EU’s #DigitalServicesAct contains a new prohibition against dark patterns but it is unclear how it will be applied. We provide some direction for regulators & online services.

Background reading
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Thomas Akhurst, Laura Zurdo Riccardo Rapparini & Christoph Mautner Markhof
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September 13, 2023

One refreshing piece of news I read this Morning: Govt. of India is planning to bring in a legal framework for apps and sites that tricks their users by using 'UX Dark Patterns'. One popular example of a dark pattern is Making it hard for a user to unsubscribe from emails

News and press
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Law
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nishith_gupta
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September 11, 2023

Centre has advised online platforms to not engage in ‘unfair trade practices’ by incorporating #darkpatterns in their online interface, to manipulate consumer choice and violate #consumerrights, as enshrined in #ConsumerProtectionAct #ecommerce

News and press
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Law
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Pratul Sharma
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September 7, 2023

New cars are creepy, privacy-invasive, and data-collecting. According to a new Mozilla report, most modern cars: - collect too much personal data - share or sell your data - give drivers little to no control over their personal data

Background reading
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EFF
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September 7, 2023

NEW DELHI : The government has sought comments from the public on its draft guidelines for the prevention and regulation of dark patterns

Law
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News and press
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Rhik Kundu
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September 7, 2023

From subscription traps to deceptive patterns, many businesses are exploiting a gap in Australia's consumer laws in a race to the bottom – and people are paying the price. But playing fair should be the rule, not the exception. Sign the petition to make unfair business practices illegal now.

News and press
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iowenjones
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September 6, 2023

Microsoft to stop forcing Windows 11 users into Edge in EU countries "...likely related to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect in March 2024."

News and press
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Tom Warren
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September 5, 2023

I have a new paper out in @BPPjournal with @RichardRWhittle , Rafi Ahmed, Tom Walsh, and Martin Wessel of @B_I_Team . We relate sludge and dark patterns, and perform a sludge audit of several large online services:

Background reading
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Mills, S., Whittle, R., Ahmed, R., Walsh, T., & Wessel, M.
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August 18, 2023

If a business takes steps to hide the recurring fee at the point of purchase, then later at the point of rebilling via not sending notifications or billing emails – then why does it make sense to call the problem "absentmindedness"?

News and press
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Irina Ivanova
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August 15, 2023

I got curious why the FTC keeps talking about “dark patterns” and so investigated. New from me for @TheInformation :

News and press
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Nancy Scola
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August 4, 2023

The KFTC had previously included an extensive strategy for effectively regulating ‘dark patterns,’ a form of deceptive advertising, in its annual enforcement plan. In April 2023, the KFTC further outlined the criteria for defining a dark pattern in its policy direction announcement, and pledged to actively address any activities that deviate from such criteria while fully respecting market autonomy.

Law
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News and press
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Shin Kiwon, Kang Il and Boyeon Kim
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August 4, 2023

In their opinion piece @Cristianapt & @arionair89 argue for the creation of a shared vocabulary around dark pattern practices.

Background reading
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Cristiana Santos
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July 31, 2023
Background reading
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Cristiana Santos and Arianna Rossi
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July 31, 2023

Over 90% of widely used apps in Japan, whether for shopping, social media or games, adopt user interfaces that lead consumers to disadvantageous choices, according to an investigation conducted by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

News and press
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Yomiuri Shimbun
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July 30, 2023

A bipartisan #Senate bill to stop online platforms from tricking consumers into disclosing personal data through the use of deceptive user interfaces, commonly referred to as “dark patterns,” has been reintroduced.

News and press
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Law
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Suzanne Smalley
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July 28, 2023

As the feds take on Amazon Prime, they’re also evaluating 50-year-old rules governing recurring subscriptions, which could impact the major streamers.

News and press
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Ashley Cullins
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July 21, 2023

Online deceptive designs (eg tricking consumers by making it difficult to cancel services) have become a real problem. Today, we've published an interim report by @AKGlenster exploring the need for better consumer protection

Background reading
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Tom Lacy
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July 20, 2023

How Disney, Netflix, and more streaming companies are fighting FTC's 'click to cancel' proposal

News and press
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Law
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Lucia Moses
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July 20, 2023

Indian Government has set up a 17-member taskforce to prepare guidelines in the next two months to protect consumers against dark patterns, and has also urged Internet users to report such practices using the National Consumer Helpline.

News and press
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Debarshi Dasgupta
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July 18, 2023

Controversy over tactics used by some firms to target players who are on track to spend high sums

News and press
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Rob Davies
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July 14, 2023

“If sellers are required to enable cancellation through a single click or action by the consumer, accidental cancellations will become much more common, as consumers will not reasonably expect to remove their recurring goods or services with just one click,” the Association of National Advertisers said in a statement.

News and press
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Mack DeGeurin
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July 7, 2023

@westernuFIMS professor Victoria L. Rubin and doctoral candidate Dominique Kelly analyze "dark patterns" — online situations easy to get into but hard to get out of — in this @ConversationCA piece.

News and press
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Victoria L. Rubin and Dominique Kelly
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July 6, 2023

The effectiveness of several DMA provisions will in practice depend on their impact on end user choices and the way in which the designated gatekeepers design the choice architecture

Background reading
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Fletcher & Vasas
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July 5, 2023

Even as regulators crack down on "dark pattern" website processes, companies are turning to artificial intelligence to make their sales methods more sophisticated, and potentially exploitative, says Brooke Masters

News and press
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Brooke Masters
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June 27, 2023

In a win for consumers, proposed order requires PCH to overhaul its sweepstakes entry and sales processes, stop surprise fees, and pay $18.5 million to consumers

News and press
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FTC
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June 27, 2023

Dozens of online stores must stop using misleading countdown timers. Following an automated check of thousands of online stores, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has confronted these online stores with their practices.

News and press
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Murco Mijnlieff
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June 27, 2023

Disney has raised concerns about new UK laws which will require it to remind its customers about their streaming subscription every six months.

News and press
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Steven McIntosh
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June 21, 2023

The Advertising Standards Council of India has released guidelines to tackle the issue of dark patterns in online #advertising that will cover advertising in #digitalmedia including #ecommerce, food delivery apps and websites

News and press
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TNN
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June 16, 2023

The government has taken a serious note of 'dark patterns' and asked e-commerce firms to create a self-regulatory framework to stop such practices, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Singh on Tuesday said.

News and press
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Press Trust of India
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June 13, 2023

A spreadsheet on ad platform Xandr’s website revealed a massive collection of “audience segments” used to target consumers based on highly specific, sometimes intimate information and inferences.

Background reading
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Jon Keegan and Joel Eastwood
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June 8, 2023

Being observed while paying can play on desire to seem generous.

Background reading
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Padraig Moran
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June 7, 2023

Synthesize evidence of the prevalence of dark patterns, evidence of their harms, and the legal framework addressing them. Propose a new taxonomy based on the notion of fair pattern as a way to shift from a problem-oriented to a problem-solving perspective

Background reading
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Marie Potel-Saville & Mathilde Da Rocha
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June 1, 2023

The research aims to analyze the privacy policies and data practices of automated mental health and mindfulness apps to assess transparency and consumer protections.

Background reading
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Jeannie Paterson and Swetha Meenal Ananthapadmanaban
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June 1, 2023

Dark patterns. Phishing. Surprise fees. The US federal government is working to address these consumer harms—and behavioral economics can help.

Background reading
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Dr Michael Hallsworth; Lila Tublin; Maximilian Kroner Dale
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May 31, 2023
  1. @FTC & @JusticeDept took action against @Amazon for deceiving people about how it'd store the voice & geolocation data it collected through Alexa. This included telling parents that they could delete kids' voice data, but then keeping it for years.
News and press
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FTC
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May 31, 2023

Texas Legislature finalizes comprehensive privacy bill - The bill carries unique applicability standards and requires covered entities to honor universal opt-out signals, perform data protection assessments and establish data processing agreements.

Law
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IAPP
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May 30, 2023

DYK? #DarkPatterns are a type of web or app design that can be used to influence your decision making online. Don’t be fooled! The Office of Consumer Affairs can help you learn to spot dark patterns and protect yourself from them.

News and press
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Law
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Government of Canada - Office of Consumer Affairs
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May 19, 2023

In addition to everything @amandamull says here, Amazon appears to have designed massive dark patterns into their return process, huge return-to-refund time spreads, and borderline fraud (chargebacks on items previously returned, etc.)

News and press
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Amanda Mull
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May 8, 2023

In this work, we analyzed 200 popular mobile apps in the Japanese market. We found that most apps had dark patterns, with an average of 3.9 per app. We also identified a new class of dark pattern: “Linguistic Dead-Ends” in the forms of “Untranslation” and “Alphabet Soup.” We outline the implications for design and research practice, especially for future cross-cultural research on dark patterns

Background reading
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Shun Hidaka, Sota Kobuki, Mizuki Watanabe, and Katie Seaborn
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April 19, 2023

Tricky interfaces in smart speakers, internet TVs, and other devices can nudge users into giving up privacy, security, and even their money

News and press
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Kaveh Waddell
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April 17, 2023

"Legitimate interest" under GDPR can be a loophole for data collection due to ambiguity and varying interpretations. This research reveals 6 deceptive patterns in privacy notices, and a mismatch with user expectations.

Primary reading
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Kyi et al.
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April 17, 2023

As the U.K. prepares to overhaul its competition regime, a fierce lobbying battle has broken out between the world’s largest tech companies and their challengers

News and press
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Tom Bristow
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April 3, 2023

Canada doesn't explicitly have dark pattern legislation, but a new privacy law in Quebec makes "privacy by design" the default -- users need to enable data-collecting themselves, otherwise it stays off

Background reading
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Aidan Macnab
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March 23, 2023

"According to the mystery shopping exercise, 97% of the most popular websites and apps used by EU consumers deployed at least one dark pattern and the most prevalent were (1) hidden information/false hierarchy, (2) preselection, (3) nagging, (4) difficult cancellations, and (5) forced registration."

Primary reading
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European Commission
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January 30, 2023

This article identifies seventeen types of "dark patterns," manipulative design techniques used in apps and websites, and proposes a new taxonomy consistent with the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). Focusing on "Information Asymmetry" and "Free Choice Repression" categories, the paper offers policy recommendations to enhance the regulation of dark patterns for commercial purposes.

Law
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M.R. Leiser (Mark); Wen-Ting Yang
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November 12, 2022

This paper examines whether individuals subjected to dark patterns can seek redress, using consent interactions and GDPR consent requirements as a case study through a comprehensive literature review and case law analysis by an interdisciplinary team of HCI and legal scholars.

Law
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Johanna Gunawan; Cristiana Santos; Irene Kamara
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November 1, 2022

"This report proposes a working definition of dark commercial patterns, sets out evidence of their prevalence, effectiveness and harms, and identifies possible policy and enforcement responses to assist consumer policy makers and authorities in addressing them. It also documents possible approaches that consumers and businesses may take to mitigate dark commercial patterns."

Primary reading
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OECD
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October 26, 2022

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau detailed the findings of an inquiry into popular “buy now, pay later” programs Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip. The CFPB identified “several areas of risk of consumer harm” and said the industry will be subject to the same oversight as credit card companies.

Law
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Jessica Dickler
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September 15, 2022

"In addition to a report on dark patterns, the commission made clear that gig companies shouldn't lie about how much money workers can earn."

Law
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Ben Brody
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September 15, 2022

“Our report shows how more and more companies are using digital dark patterns to trick people into buying products and giving away their personal information,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This report—and our cases—send a clear message that these traps will not be tolerated.”

Law
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Primary reading
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Federal Trade Commission
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September 15, 2022

E-Commerce websites with most dark patterns found:
@SHEIN_Official, @AliExpress_EN, @amazon.

Background reading
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David Hachfled
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September 15, 2022

"a top European court upheld a ruling that it broke competition rules and fined it a record 4.1 billion euros, in a move that may encourage other regulators to ratchet up pressure on the U.S. giant."

Law
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Foo Yun Chee
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September 14, 2022

A study by Public Eye and FRC shows that online platforms use a wide variety of tricks to generate sales. (Deutsche)

News and press
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Flurin Maissen
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September 13, 2022

It is rare for expert witness reports to be released to the public, so this thread provides a treasure trove of insights.

Law
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TheLegalProcess
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September 9, 2022

While many are looking forward to the DSA to bring order against the use of dark patterns in online interfaces, the impact of this Regulation might be limited. The proposed ban of dark patterns will indeed only apply to the restricted category of providers of online platforms and the use of dark patterns, which are already covered under the Unfair Commercial Practice Directive (UCPD) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), will fall outside the scope of the DSA. Consequently, the DSA might not be the salvatory Regulation that many were hoping for.

Law
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Martin SAS
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September 6, 2022

Financial catastrophe is now only a few clicks away, a problem that is showing quiet signs of becoming a crisis. "I can't just get rid of my phone," one problem gambler says.

News and press
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Maxwell Strachan
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September 6, 2022

In this episode Mikhail and Colin talk about dark patterns, different types of dark patterns, how marketers can recognize them, why companies use dark patterns, how to engage less in this type of manipulation, what to do if your company requires you to implement something you consider to be unethical and more.

Background reading
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Mikhail Myzgin
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August 31, 2022

If you thought cookie pop-ups were an annoying nuisance, just wait until you have to scan your face for some third party to “verify your age” after California’s new design code becomes law.

Law
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Mike Masnick
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August 29, 2022

"...the DMA may root out some dark patterns, but only for “gatekeeper” companies, and only in contexts where those dark patterns relate directly to the law’s other provisions [...] Ithe DSA might have had a decisive impact on the prevalence of dark patterns online. However, those hoping for a broad, aggressive approach to dark patterns may be underwhelmed..."

Law
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Jennifer King
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August 23, 2022

“Continue without care and repair” - Note how you can’t click the big “continue” unless you buy insurance.

No items found.
Deceptive Design
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August 20, 2022

The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) found that more than eight in 10 Australians (83%) have lost money, lost control of their data or have been manipulated by a business to make a choice that isn't in their interest.

Background reading
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Chandni Gupta
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August 19, 2022

After a user pays for Dominos Pizza (UK), they are shown a deceptive ad that looks like a "Continue" button when in fact it's a monthly subscription plan.

No items found.
David Rogers
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August 19, 2022

"There was one a man from Rizal, who wanted to cancel Adobe's free trial. He opened his account, only to find out, he'll owe thousands - if he does - tragical"

Background reading
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Caye
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August 18, 2022

Dark patterns and the façade of decisional privacy; Attempts to regulate dark patterns globally; Legal implications of dark patterns in India.

Law
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Siri Harish
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August 15, 2022

The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly deepened its investigation into Amazon’s employment of dark patterns in the Amazon Prime subscription cancellation process. As EPIC explained in a complaint to the D.C. Attorney General last year, Amazon employs dark patterns to deter customers from canceling their Prime subscriptions.

Law
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EPIC
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August 5, 2022

"Because of a bug in the code somewhere, you end up showing the wrong discounted price in the cart until checkout. [...] this bug actually increases conversion. [...] The bug is now a "feature".

Background reading
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Seth Newman
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August 4, 2022

"So what do you want us to do, fight?"

Background reading
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James
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August 4, 2022

This case study is part of a mediation effort by the LINC on the design of interfaces. It translates in the form of a fictitious service decisions made by the CNIL in order to make them clear and accessible.

Background reading
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LINC
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July 29, 2022

This study examines Facebook's issues by analyzing leaked documents and published news articles. It outlines the dark patterns that the company has applied, and discusses how they promote toxic behavior, hate speech and disinformation.

Primary reading
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Pekka Kallioniemi
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July 29, 2022

"On the Internet, traps aim to make us click where we don't want to. The English-speaking world calls them “dark patterns” – or “rigged interfaces”. What is the difference with the nudge , which aims to guide our actions by acting on “the architecture of our choices ”? Where is the line between influence and manipulation?"

Background reading
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Philosophie Magazine
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July 27, 2022

Following actions of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), online platform Wish has banned its merchants from using fake discounts on its platform. In addition, Wish has blocked the use of personalized pricing in the EU since May 25, 2022. This has been the result of actions taken by ACM.

Law
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Dries Cuijper
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July 26, 2022

California Privacy Rights Act provisions that will go into effect in January will provide more control to consumers over how companies use their data.

Law
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Robert Freedman
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July 21, 2022

Despite Electronic Arts’ (EA) insistence that loot boxes are not gambling, and are, in fact, “surprise mechanics,” several studies have shown there is a link between loot boxes and gambling addiction.

Primary reading
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Karan Bhasin
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July 17, 2022

Heated seats, remote start key fobs, and other creature comforts are likely to be subject to monthly or annual fees

Background reading
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Andrew J. Hawkins
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July 13, 2022

The CFPB says it’s hiring 25 technologists over the next year to help its staff of mainly economists and lawyers actually probe these new leads. The move is as sure a sign as any that the bureau’s ongoing efforts to investigate and hold tech companies accountable for financial wrongdoing are only accelerating.

Law
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Protocol
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July 7, 2022

"Friction isn’t always a bad thing [...] The trick is learning to differentiate good friction from bad, and to understand when and where adding good friction to your customer journey can give customers the agency and autonomy to improve choice, "

Background reading
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Renée Richardson Gosline
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June 9, 2022

All over the world, governments are using nudges as regulatory tools. Is this ethical? Much of the answer depends on whether nudges promote or instead undermine welfare, autonomy, and dignity.

Law
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Cass R. Sunstein
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June 5, 2022