Some companies and websites try to influence consumer decision through psychological tricks or design elements, which are manipulated or falsified in what are known as dark patterns.
Digital and consumer law advisor Jennifer Kaiser explained that dark patterns are product design elements that are created to get the user to do things they don't want, often actions that benefit the company rather than the user. For one dollar, plus shipping costs, but after purchasing this book, the user is surprised that there is an error in the bill.
Paid subscription trap
The German specialist in consumer protection added that this error was due to the inclusion of the monthly subscription in the bill, a subscription that the user did not want at all, but was implemented without his knowledge while purchasing the e-book, and in such cases the user falls into the trap of subscriptions paid through printed items. Small print on the website, which is hidden between large areas, surfaces and colored buttons, which serve to distract the user.
"The dark patterns started with cookie banners, with users complaining a lot of intrusive and confusing windows that require adjusting their privacy settings when visiting a new website," Kaiser said.
"Half of the banners for cookies contain dark patterns," said IT and data protection attorney Peter Haines.
tricks and tricks
Website operators rely on certain tricks and games to get customers to do certain actions, for example banners for cookies.
"The most suitable alternative to privacy and data protection is placed on the margins or in a place that is not easily seen," explained Professor Frank Karagel, from the University of Ulm, Germany.
If the user wishes not to share his usage data while browsing the web on a site, he has to go through a lot of check boxes and sub-pages, in order to select all the options manually.
A common scam is that a product not selected by the user appears in the shopping cart just before the checkout process (social networking sites)
Too many actions often lead the user to accept all the annoying cookies, and the banners for cookies are designed so that the user is forced to accept them automatically, if the user wants to get to a particular website quickly, they are likely to click on Pre-selected option in the dialog, so as not to stop the user during the browsing process.
Another common scam is that a product, which the user has not selected, suddenly appears in the shopping cart just before payment, or selects certain options such as obtaining travel insurance when booking a flight, which are pre-selected.
Other examples of dark patterns include companies and merchants hiding customer service contact information, or canceling purchases in inconspicuous places on menus.
Professor Karagel added, "Sometimes there is an urgency for the user, for example, by the appearance of a countdown or indicating that there is one vacant room on the hotel reservation portal, for example, which is written in red (only one room remains)."
The user may also feel guilt when messages such as "If all data is not filled out may not be completed our service may not give the best possible result".
Kaiser explained that the problem is that these practices are considered legal, if the flight booking portal indicates that there are only a few flights or a very limited number of offers, then this is considered a “marketing method” and is legally permissible, and lawmakers did not interfere Except on a very limited scale in this matter.
ways of protection
In order for the user to protect himself from dark patterns and not fall into the trap of these scams, he has to search for these dark patterns through search engines, which can be identified through web groups, case studies and consumer protection centers.
German experts stressed the need to be careful and careful in the first place when clicking on the buttons that appear quickly, and to check the wording of the texts, which appear when purchasing products online, and to make sure of the amount to be paid before buying the products.