Daurk pattern

A **daurk pattern** (Inglis: *dark pattern*; kent as a "deceptive design pattern" an aw) is "a uiser interface thit haes been carefully craftit tae trick fowk intae daein things, sic as buyin owerpriced insurance wi thair purchase or signin up for recurrin bills". User experience designer Harry Brignull coined the neologism on 28 July 2010 wi the registration o darkpatterns.org, a "pattern library wi the speceefic goal for tae name an shame deceptive uiser interfaces".

In 2021 the Electronic Frontier Foundation an Consumer Reports pit thegither a tip line tae gaither information aboot daurk patterns frae the public.

## Patterns

### Privacy Zuckering
"Privacy Zuckering" – named fur Facebook co-foonder an Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg – is a practice thit tricks the user intae pittin oot mair information than thay war meant tae. Uisers micht gie up this information wioot kennin or throu practices thit obscure or pit back the option tae opt out o pittin oot thair private information. California haes approved regulations thit limit this practice bi businesses in the California Consumer Privacy Act.

### Bait-and-switch
Bait-and-switch patterns adverteese a free (or at a gey lawer price) product or service that is halely unavailable or stocked in smaw amoonts. Efter annooncin the product no bein available, the page pits up seemilar products for heicher prices or lesser quality.

### Confirmshamin
Confirmshamin uises shame tae drive users to act. For exemple, whan websites pit an option tae pit doun an email newsletter in a wey thit shames veesitors intae acceptin.

### Misdirection
Common in saftware instawers, misdirection gies the user a button in the fashion o a teepical continuation button. A daurk pattern wad pit up a prominent "A accept these terms" button askin the user tae accept the terms o a program no relatit tae the yin thay are ettlin tae instaw. Acause the uiser teepically will accept the terms bi force o habit, the unrelatit program can be instawed an aw. The instawer's authors dae this acause the authors o the unrelatit program pay for ivery instaw thit thay rocure. The alternative route in the instawer, allouing the uiser tae skip instawin the unrelatit program, is less visible or haurder tae spot, or seems counter-intuitive (sic as declinin the terms o service).

Some websites thit speir for information thit isnae needit uise misdirection an aw. For exemple, somebody wad fill oot a uisername an trystwird on ae page, an efter clickin the "nixt" button, the page speirs the uiser for thair email address wi anither "next" button as the anerly option. This hides the option tae press "nixt" wioot pittin in the information. In some cases, the page shaws the method tae skip the step as a wee, greyed-oot link insteid o a button, so it daesnae staund oot tae the uiser. Ither exemples include sites offerin a wey tae inveet freends bi pittin in thair email address, tae upload a profile pictur, or tae identifee interests.

Confiusin wording micht be uised to trick uisers intae formally acceptin an option thit thay think haes the opposite meanin an aw. For exemple a personal data processin consent button usin a dooble-negative sic as "dinnae no sell ma personal information"

### Roach motel
A roach motel or a trammel net design gies an easy or straightforward path tae git in but a difficult path tae get oot. Exemples include businesses thit are needin subscribers tae prent an mail oot thair opt-oot or cancellation speirin. In 2021, in the Unitit States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) haes annooncit thit thay will ramp up enforcement agin daurk patterns like roach motel thit trick consumers intae signin up for subscriptions or makkin it difficult tae cancel. The FTC haes statit key requirements relatit tae information transparency an clarity, express informed consent, an seemple an easy cancellation.

For exemple, during the 2020 United States presidential election, Donald Trump's WinRed campaign haed a seemilar daurk pattern, pushin uisers taewarts committin tae a recurrin monthly donation.

## Resairch
In 2016 and 2017 research haes documentit social media anti-privacy practices usin daurk patterns. In 2018 the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) pit oot "Deceived bi Design," a report on deceptive uiser interface designs frae Facebook, Google an Microsoft. A 2019 study investigatit practices on 11,000 shoppin wab site. It pyntit oot 1818 daurk pattern in total an cooried thaim into 15 category.

Recent resairch frae Apryle 2022 fund thit daurk patterns are still commonly uised in the marketplace, heichlichtin a needin for faurer scrutiny for sic practices bi the public, resairchers an regulators.

Unner the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), aw companies hiv tae obtain unambiguous, freely-gien consent frae customers afore thay gaither an uise ("process") thair personally identifiable information. A 2020 study fund thit "muckle tech" companies aften uised deceptive uiser interfaces for tae discourage thair users frae optin oot. In 2022 a report bi the European Commission fund thit "97% o the maist popular wabsites an apps uised b EU consumers uised at least ae dark pattern."

## Legality
Bait-and-switch is a form o fraud thit violates US law.
In the European Union, the GDPR is needin a uiser's informed consent for tae process thair personal information be unambiguous, freely-gien, an speceefic tae ivery uisage o personal information. This is intendit tae beild frae ettlins ta hiv uisers accept aw data processing wioot kennin bi default (thit violates the regulation).

In April 2019, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) pit oot a proposed "age-appropriate design code" for the operations o social networking services whan uised bi minors, thit staps fae uisin "nudges" taw draw uisers intae options thit hiv law privacy settins. This code wad be enforceable unner the Data Protection Act 2018. It haes taen effect 2nt September 2020.

On 9 Apryle 2019, US senators Deb Fischer an Mark Warner pit forrit the Deceptive Experiences Tae Onwab Uisers Reduction (DETOUR) Act, thit wad mak it illegal for companies wi mair nor 100 million monthly acteeve uisers tae uise daurk patterns whan efter consent for tae uise thair personal information.

In March 2021, California adoptit amendments taw the California Consumer Privacy Act, thit staps the uise o deceptive user interfaces thit hiv "the substantial effect o subvertin or impairin a consumer's chyce tae opt-oot."

In October 2021, the Federal Trade Commission pit oot an enforcement policy statement, annooncin a crackdoun on businesses uisin daurk patterns thit "trick or trap consumers intae subscription services." As a result o risin nummers o complaints, the agency is reponin bi enforcin these consumer pertection laws.

Bi the wey o the European Data Protection Board, the "principle for fair processin laid doun in Airticle 5 (1) (a) GDPR serves as a stertin pynt for tae assess whather a design pattern actual constitutes a 'daurk pattern'."

In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James fined Fareportal $2.6 million for uisin deceptive marketin tactics tae sell airline tickets an hotel rooms andthe Federal Court o Australia fined Expedia Group's Trivago A$44.7 million for misleadin consumers intae peyin heicher prices for hotel room beukins.

In Mairch 2023, the Unitit States Federal Trade Commission fined Fortnite developer Epic Games $245 million for uisin "dark patterns tae trick users intae daein purchases." The $245 million will be uised taw refund affectit customers an is the maist muckle refund amoont ever gien oot bi the FTC in a gemmin case.

## See also

## References

## Freemit Airtins

* Deceptive Design (umwhile darkpatterns.org) 
* Tip line tae report daurk patterns tae the Electronic Frontier Foundation anConsumer Reports 
* Dark patterns at the UX Pedagogy an Practice Lab at Purdue University