The U.S. FTC, along with two other international consumer protection networks, announced on Thursday the results of a study into the use of “dark patterns” – or manipulative design techniques – that can put users’ privacy at risk or push them to buy products or services or take other actions they otherwise wouldn’t have. TechCrunch:

In an analysis of 642 websites and apps offering subscription services, the study found that the majority (nearly 76%) used at least one dark pattern and nearly 67% used more than one. Dark patterns refer to a range of design techniques that can subtly encourage users to take some sort of action or put their privacy at risk. They’re particularly popular among subscription websites and apps and have been an area of focus for the FTC in previous years. For instance, the FTC sued dating app giant Match for fraudulent practices, which included making it difficult to cancel a subscription through its use of dark patterns.

[…] The new report published Thursday dives into the many types of dark patterns like sneaking, obstruction, nagging, forced action, social proof and others. Sneaking was among the most common dark patterns encountered in the study, referring to the inability to turn off the auto-renewal of subscriptions during the sign-up and purchase process. Eighty-one percent of sites and apps studied used this technique to ensure their subscriptions were renewed automatically. In 70% of cases, the subscription providers didn’t provide information on how to cancel a subscription, and 67% failed to provide the date by which a consumer needed to cancel in order to not be charged again.

  • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    And yet the article doesn’t mention whether they’re going to do anything about it. I’m guessing nothing, based on this:

    This isn’t the first time the FTC has examined the use of dark patterns. In 2022, it also authored a report that detailed a range of dark patterns, but that wasn’t limited to only subscription websites and apps. Instead, the older report looked at dark patterns across industries, including e-commerce and children’s apps, as well as different types of dark patterns, like those used in cookie consent banners and more.

    • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      like those used in cookie consent banners

      Amazing how big some sites are and yet they still have the shadiest cookie banners. Individually clicking categories to disable, having to scroll to save instead of being tricked by the “accept all” that gets highlighted when you start disabling consent categories…

      • mrvictory1@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Individually clicking categories to disable

        Not legal in EU, you can report this to appropriate department. What I hate is if I have VPN enabled I will get privacy banners in Google sites but if I don’t then Google will collect all data because I am not in EU.