Dark patterns - Govt releases guidelines for public consultation

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What are Dark Patterns?
• How do companies use dark patterns?
• What do users stand to lose because of dark patterns?
• News Summary: Dark patterns - Govt releases guidelines for public consultation
• Background:
• Key highlights of the draft guidelines

Why in news?

• The Department of Consumer Affairs has sought public comments on Draft Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns.

What are Dark Patterns?

• Dark patterns refer to deceptive design techniques used in user interfaces to manipulate or deceive users into taking certain actions or making specific choices online.
• Such patterns are unethical user interface designs that deliberately make Internet experience harder or even exploit the users.
• These patterns exploit cognitive biases and behavioural tendencies to trick or mislead users, often for the benefit of the platform or business implementing them.
• These tricks can include creating a false sense of urgency, making people feel bad for not doing something, forcing them to take certain actions, trapping them into subscriptions, or constantly bothering them.

How do companies use dark patterns?

• Social media companies and Big Tech firms such as Apple, Amazon, Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Google use dark or deceptive patterns to downgrade the user experience to their advantage.
• Amazon
  • It came under fire in the EU for its confusing, multi-step cancellation process for the Amazon Prime subscription.
• Google-owned YouTube
  • It nudges users to sign up for YouTube Premium with pop-ups, obscuring the final seconds of a video with thumbnails of other videos.
    • This is being viewed as a way of disrupting what should have been an otherwise smooth user experience.
• LinkedIn
  • LinkedIn users often receive unsolicited, sponsored messages from influencers.
  • Disabling this option is a difficult process with multiple steps that requires users to be familiar with the platform controls.

What do users stand to lose because of dark patterns?

• Lack of Transparency:
  • Dark patterns can obscure important information, making it difficult for users to fully understand the implications of their actions.
  • This can lead to uninformed decision-making and potential financial or privacy risks.
• Reduced Autonomy:
  • It manipulates user behaviour, limiting their freedom of choice.
  • Users may feel coerced or pressured into making decisions they wouldn't have otherwise made, leading to buyer's remorse or dissatisfaction.
• Privacy Concerns:
  • Some dark patterns may manipulate users into sharing more personal data than they intended or agreeing to privacy settings that compromise their confidentiality.
  • This can have implications for data security and expose users to potential privacy breaches.
• Negative User Experience:
  • Dark patterns often create frustrating and confusing experiences for users.
  • They may feel deceived or manipulated, leading to a loss of trust in the platform or brand and a diminished overall user experience.

News Summary: Dark patterns - Govt releases guidelines for public consultation

• The Union government has released draft guidelines to curb “dark patterns” used by online platforms.

Background:

• The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) conducted an interactive stakeholder’s consultation on ‘Dark Patterns’ in June 2023.
• After that, a taskforce was constituted to submit recommendations on identification and regulation of dark patterns.
• Based on the recommendations of this taskforce and deliberations with other stakeholders, draft guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns have been framed.

Key highlights of the draft guidelines

• Objective
  • The objective is to clearly identify and define tactics as dark patterns so that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs can act against platforms indulging in this under Section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• Defines dark patterns
  • The document defines dark patterns as:
    • any practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX (user interface/user experience) interactions on any platform;
    • designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do;
    • by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice;
    • amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.
  • For instance, false urgency is a dark pattern under which the online seller makes false claims of limited stock (“hurry, only two items left!”).
  • The draft guidelines propose prohibitions against engaging in dark patterns.
• Applicability
  • The draft guidelines, once notified, shall apply to all platforms systematically offering goods or services in India, advertisers and sellers.
• Specifies 10 types of dark patterns
  • The document specifies 10 types of dark patterns:
  • 

Q1) What is basket sneaking?

Sneaking products into users' shopping baskets is a dark pattern that tricks people into purchasing more than they intended to do. For this very reason, the European Commission illegalized this design pattern under the consumer rights directive.

Q2) What is confirm shaming?

Confirm shaming is a term that refers to a manipulative tactic used in user interface (UI) design or online interactions. It involves using guilt or social pressure to influence a user's decision when presented with a choice, particularly when dealing with consent or privacy-related options. In the context of online interactions, confirm shaming typically occurs when a website or application presents a user with a choice, such as opting out of email subscriptions, declining to provide personal information, or refusing to consent to terms and conditions. Instead of simply providing a straightforward option to decline or opt-out, confirm shaming employs emotionally manipulative language or design elements to make the user feel guilty or embarrassed for choosing not to comply.

Source: Dark patterns: Govt releases guidelines for public consultation | PIB | Ministry of Consumer Affairs