News & Articles

Recently, one of

The company is refunding $245 million to customers who made unwanted purchases because of poor game design, and is paying a $275 million fine for collecting personal data from kids without consent.

Both consumer advocates and business groups are dissatisfied with how California privacy regulators say company websites must recognize universal opt-out tools.

Internet phone service provider Vonage is paying $100 million to its customers after the Federal Trade Commission alleged the company used “dark patterns” and junk fees.Consumer Investigator Caresse Jackman breaks down the lawsuit with an FTC attorney and gets advice on how you can avoid similar que…

Dark Patterns are ubiquitous: deliberate choices in website- or app-design that exploit unobservant or irrational behavior of users, tricking them into reaching

A class action alleges Amazon relies on a “layered and confusing” process rife with “dark patterns” in an effort to prevent consumers from canceling their Prime memberships.

Think you can tell a dark pattern from an ethically designed prompt? Take our quiz to find out

No clear central law on what differentiates brand extensions from surrogate ads, other issues like privacy also proving difficult to navigate, self-regulatory body’s CEO says in interview.

On October 18, the CFPB sued a software company for utilizing their online payment platform to enroll unknowing consumers into annual subscriptions through deceptive acts and “dark pat

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it is exploring a rule to crack down on junk fees proliferating throughout the economy.

The sinister side of behavioral science in product design.

We’ve known about manipulative user interfaces for a long while now, but the FTC reported that more and more companies are tricking site visitors.

According to ASCI’s secretary general and chief executive Manisha Kapoor, dark pattern refers to design behaviourial techniques being deployed by advertisers to manipulate the customers through fake reviews or falsehoods on pricing

Save time and preserve your privacy.

A September 2022 FTC Staff Report has revealed that manipulative marketing practices by businesses, termed “dark patterns,” is on the rise. The…

Companies are starting to face legal and financial consequences for their alleged use of dark patterns, deceptive website or app user interfaces used to trick or pressure consumers into making choices they otherwise might not. Dorsey & Whitney’s Jamie Nafziger and Bianca Tillman explain what com…

Daniel Therrien, a former national security official and privacy commissioner, said he was not told the RCMP had found ways to circumvent encrypted communications.

Attorney General Tom Miller today called on the Federal Trade Commission to strengthen and update its guidance on digital advertising disclosures.

I, of all people, got a fresh new user interface in Instagram the other day. Although the company has not rolled it out to all users yet, the changes seem in line with its intention to move away from its original model of photo sharing among friends, to the one pioneered by TikTok: showing as [&hel…

The complaints about Amazon’s confusing and convoluted cancellation process for Prime were announced 2021; it’s this long for the e-commerce giant to agree to change

The legislation would place limits on how internet firms with over 100M monthly users could ask for information

When he goes online, Sen. Mark Warner gets particularly bugged when he’d like to download something but can’t tell which of several links scattered among the advertisements is one he wants, rather than one that sticks him with a marketing link. That’s just one variety of a so-called “dark pattern,”…

A report authored by the Norwegian Consumer Council says gamers are “manipulated” to spend money by Raid: Shadow Legends and FIFA 22 loot boxes alongside others

Companies including Amazon present customers with confusing screens, disclose fees in small print and require that people traverse labyrinths before they can cancel.

When the European Commission presented its Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal in December 2020, it listed beefed up consumer protections as a headline goal for the flagship update to the bloc’s rules for digital services. But now, as negotiations over the draft law are in the final stretch, …

Dark patterns refer to how internet platforms trick and deceive users into clicking on something they don’t want to do.

In an effort to strengthen the data protection granted to users , the European Data Protection Board has established guidelines relating to dark…

Last week, the New York Attorney General announced that Fareportal had agreed to pay $2.6 million to end an investigation over its use of “dark...

The Web Foundation’s Tech Policy Design Lab is working on an interesting-looking project to counter deceptive design

Here’s what you need to know about the tactics companies use to keep people from leaving.

Dr Deepthi Ratnayake explores the impact of dark patterns on web applications.

Deciphering FTC’s “dark patterns” enforcement approach is akin to searching for light at the end of a tunnel, based on a deep read of the agency’s latest policy guidance. It seems that the FTC has added more vagueness and ambiguity, not less, in its attempt to increase scrutiny of deceptive dark pat…

The proposal also pressures platforms to remove illegal content.

Fear of missing out, or ‘FOMO’, is among the biggest causes of social media addiction, a new study suggests.

Readers respond to a <em>Co.Design</em> story asking: What role do designers play in an industry ruled by A/B testing and optimization?

The Norwegian Consumer Council (Forburkerrådet) recently has released a report, Deceived by Design —it reveals some tech companies are…

Facebook has launched a new “Privacy Center” to educate users about data collection and privacy options.

Jennifer King, HAI Privacy and Data Policy Fellow, explains the importance of tracking and regulating manipulative online tactics.

Google and Facebook make it harder to reject cookies