Have you been “confirm-shamed” by a website? That’s when you get a pop-up to sign up for a membership or newsletter, but declining the offer also makes you admit that you hate saving money. It’s also one example of a “dark pattern,” design choices that manipulate users into signing up for things, buying stuff, or giving away personal data.
Some dark patterns are so common, we might not even notice them. Think of how the cookie consent pop-up makes it easier to hit “accept all” instead of going through the different settings. Or having to click through multiple pages to delete an account. Or when hidden fees don’t show up until you’re about to check out. Even overly complicated privacy policies are something users accept as a fact of being online.
But regulators are catching on. Canada’s privacy commissioner found that 97% of the 1,000 websites and apps it reviewed used a dark pattern to coerce people into sharing personal information, calling out brands like Sephora, Zara, La-Z-Boy, and LinkedIn. The FTC in the U.S. found that, on 642 websites and apps offering subscriptions, 76% used at least one dark pattern, with 67% using more than one.