Dark Pattern

About Dark Pattern:

• Dark patterns are defined as any deceptive design patterns using user interface/user experience interactions on any platform.
• The term was coined by Harry Brignull in 2010.
  • They are designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do;
  • It is done by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice; amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.
• The Central Consumer Protection Authority notified the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns in 2023 and specified 13 dark patterns, namely:
  • False urgency, Basket Sneaking, Confirm shaming, forced action, Subscription trap, Interface Interference, Bait and switch, Drip Pricing, Disguised Advertisements and Nagging, Trick Wording, Saas Billing and Rogue Malwares.

 Key points about ‘Jago Grahak Jago App,’ ‘Jagriti App,’ and ‘Jagriti Dashboard’ 

• These are part of an intelligent cyber-physical system, which operates in real-time and runs on the Airawat AI Supercomputer under the National Supercomputing Mission for AI and Data Analytics.
• This innovative system analyses existing text and design elements on e-commerce platforms to determine whether they are being used to influence consumer psychology.
  • ‘Jago Grahak Jago App: Itprovides essential e-commerce information about all URLs during a consumer’s online activities, alerting them if any URL may be unsafe and requires caution.
  • ‘Jagriti App: It allows users to report URLs where they suspect the presence of one or more dark patterns declared illegal. These reports are then registered as complaints to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for possible redressal and subsequent action.
  • ‘Jagriti Dashboard’: It is used to generate real-time reports on e-commerce URLs for the presence of the aforementioned dark patterns, enhancing the capability to monitor and regulate online consumer interactions effectively.
• Significance: This solution will aid the CCPA in identifying dark patterns, speeding up the resolution of consumer disputes and will go a long way in curbing practices that are detrimental to consumer interests.

Q1: What is Basket sneaking?

It means inclusion of additional items such as products, services, payments to charity/donation at the time of checkout from a platform, without the consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the amount payable for the product(s) and/or service(s) chosen by the user

News: Department of Consumer Affair’s to launch ‘Jago Grahak Jago App,’ ‘Jagriti App,’ and ‘Jagriti Dashboard” on 24th December 2024 on National Consumer Day 2024 to protect Consumers from the Dark Patterns

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