Adark pattern (also known as a "deceptivedesign pattern") is auser interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying overpriced insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills.[1][2][3]User experience designer Harry Brignull coined theneologism on 28 July 2010 with the registration of darkpatterns.org, a "pattern library with the specific goal of naming and shaming deceptive user interfaces".[4][5][6] In 2023 he released the bookDeceptive Patterns.[7]
In 2021 theElectronic Frontier Foundation andConsumer Reports created a tip line to collect information about dark patterns from the public.[8]
"Privacy Zuckering" – named afterFacebook co-founder andMeta Platforms CEOMark Zuckerberg – is a practice that tricks users into sharing more information than they intended to.[9][10][citation needed] Users may give up this information unknowingly or through practices that obscure or delay the option to opt out of sharing their private information.
California has approved regulations that limit this practice by businesses in theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act.[11]
In mid-2024, Meta Platforms announced plans to utilize user data from Facebook and Instagram to train its AI technologies, including generative AI systems. This initiative included processing data from public and non-public posts, interactions, and even abandoned accounts. Users were given until June 26, 2024, to opt out of the data processing. However, critics noted that the process was fraught with obstacles, including misleading email notifications, redirects to login pages, and hidden opt-out forms that were difficult to locate. Even when users found the forms, they were required to provide a reason for opting out, despite Meta's policy stating that any reason would be accepted, raising questions about the necessity of this extra step.[12][13]
The European Center for Digital Rights (Noyb) responded to Meta’s controversial practices by filing complaints in 11 EU countries. Noyb alleged that Meta's use of "dark patterns" undermined user consent, violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These complaints emphasized that Meta's obstructive opt-out process included hidden forms, redirect mechanisms, and unnecessary requirements like providing reasons for opting out—tactics exemplifying "dark patterns," deliberately designed to dissuade users from opting out. Additionally, Meta admitted it could not guarantee that opted-out data would be fully excluded from its training datasets, raising further concerns about user privacy and data protection compliance.[14][15]
Amid mounting regulatory and public pressure, theIrish Data Protection Commission (DPC) intervened, leading Meta to pause its plans to process EU/EEA user data for AI training. This decision, while significant, did not result in a legally binding amendment to Meta’s privacy policy, leaving questions about its long-term commitment to respecting EU data rights. Outside the EU, however, Meta proceeded with its privacy policy update as scheduled on June 26, 2024, prompting critics to warn about the broader implications of such practices globally.[16][17]
The incident underscored the pervasive issue of dark patterns in privacy settings and the challenges of holding large technology companies accountable for their data practices. Advocacy groups called for stronger regulatory frameworks to prevent deceptive tactics and ensure that users can exercise meaningful control over their personal information.[18]
Bait-and-switch patternsadvertise a free (or at a greatlyreduced price) product or service that is wholly unavailable or stocked in small quantities. After announcing the product's unavailability, the page presents similar products of higher prices or lesser quality.[19][20]
ProPublica has long reported on how Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and other companies have used the bait and switch pattern to stop Americans from being able to file their taxes for free.[21] On March 29, 2022, theFederal Trade Commission announced that they would take legal action against Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax in response to deceptive advertising of its free tax filing products.[22][23] The commission reported that the majority of tax filers cannot use any of TurboTax's free products which were advertised, claiming that it has misled customers to believing that tax filers can use TurboTax to file their taxes. In addition, tax filers who earn farm income or are gig workers cannot be eligible for those products. Intuit announced that they would take counter action, announcing that the FTC's arguments are "not credible" and claimed that their free tax filing service is available to all tax filers.[24]
On May 4, 2022, Intuit agreed to pay a $141 million settlement over the misleading advertisements.[25] In May 2023, the company began sending over 4 million customers their settlement checks, which ranged from $30 to $85 USD.[26] In January 2024, the FTC ordered Intuit to fix its misleading ads for "free" tax preparation software - for which most filers wouldn't even qualify.[27]
As of March 2024, Intuit has stopped providing its free TurboTax service.[28]
Drip pricing is a pattern where a headline price is advertised at the beginning of a purchase process, followed by the incremental disclosure of additional fees, taxes or charges. The objective of drip pricing is to gain a consumer's interest in a misleadingly low headline price without the true final price being disclosed until the consumer has invested time and effort in the purchase process and made a decision to purchase.
Confirmshaminguses shame to drive users to act, such as when websites word an option to decline an email newsletter in a way that shames visitors into accepting.[20][29]
Common in software installers, misdirection presents the user with a button in the fashion of a typical continuation button. A dark pattern would show a prominent "I accept these terms" button asking the user to accept the terms of a program unrelated to the one they are trying to install.[30] Since the user typically will accept the terms by force of habit, the unrelated program can subsequently be installed. The installer's authors do this because the authors of the unrelated program pay for each installation that they procure. The alternative route in the installer, allowing the user to skip installing the unrelated program, is much less prominently displayed,[31] or seems counter-intuitive (such as declining the terms of service).
Some websites that ask for information that is not required also use misdirection. For example, one would fill out a username and password on one page, and after clicking the "next" button, the page asks the user for their email address with another "next" button as the only option.[32] This hides the option to press "next" without entering the information. In some cases, the page shows the method to skip the step as a small, greyed-out link instead of a button, so it does not stand out to the user.[33] Other examples include sites offering a way to invite friends by entering their email address, to upload a profile picture, or to identify interests.
Confusing wording may be also used to trick users into formally accepting an option which they believe has the opposite meaning. For example a personal data processing consent button using a double-negative such as "don't not sell my personal information".[34]
Aroach motel or atrammel net design provides an easy or straightforward path to get in but a difficult path to get out.[35] Examples include businesses that require subscribers to print and mail their opt-out or cancellation request.[19][20]
For example, during the2020 United States presidential election,Donald Trump'sWinRed campaign employed a similar dark pattern, pushing users towards committing to a recurring monthly donation.[36]
Another common version of this pattern is any service which enables one to sign-up and start the service online, but which requires a phone call (often with long wait times) to terminate the service. Examples include services like cable TV and internet services, and credit monitoring.[citation needed]
In 2021, in the United States, theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced they will ramp up enforcement against dark patterns like roach motel that trick consumers into signing up for subscriptions or making it difficult to cancel. The FTC has stated key requirements related to information transparency and clarity, express informed consent, and simple and easy cancellation.[37]
In 2016 and 2017 research has documented social media anti-privacy practices using dark patterns.[38][39] In 2018 theNorwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) published "Deceived by Design," a report on deceptive user interface designs ofFacebook,Google andMicrosoft.[40] A 2019 study investigated practices on 11,000 shopping web sites. It identified 1818 dark patterns total and grouped them into 15 categories.[41]
Research from April 2022 found that dark patterns are still commonly used in the marketplace, highlighting a need for further scrutiny of such practices by the public, researchers and regulators.[42]
Under the European UnionGeneral Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), all companies must obtain unambiguous, freely-given consent from customers before they collect and use ("process") their personally identifiable information. A 2020 study found that "big tech" companies often used deceptive user interfaces in order to discourage their users from opting out.[43] In 2022 a report by the European Commission found that "97% of the most popular websites and apps used by EU consumers deployed at least one dark pattern."[44]
Research on advertising network documentation shows that information presented to mobile app developers on these platforms is focused on complying with legal regulations, and puts the responsibility for such decisions on the developer. Also, sample code and settings often have privacy-unfriendly defaults laced with dark patterns to nudge developers’ decisions towards privacy-unfriendly options such as sharing sensitive data to increase revenue.[45]
Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud that violates US law.[46]
On 9 April 2019, US senatorsDeb Fischer andMark Warner introduced the Deceptive Experiences To Online Users Reduction (DETOUR) Act, which would make it illegal for companies with more than 100 million monthly active users to use dark patterns when seeking consent to use their personal information.[47]
In March 2021, California adopted amendments to theCalifornia Consumer Privacy Act, which prohibits the use of deceptive user interfaces that have "the substantial effect of subverting or impairing a consumer's choice to opt-out."[34]
In October 2021, the Federal Trade Commission issued an enforcement policy statement, announcing a crackdown on businesses using dark patterns that "trick or trap consumers into subscription services." As a result of rising numbers of complaints, the agency is responding by enforcing theseconsumer protection laws.[37]
In 2022, New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James fined Fareportal $2.6 million for using deceptive marketing tactics to sell airline tickets and hotel rooms[48] and the Federal Court of Australia finedExpedia Group'sTrivago A$44.7 million for misleading consumers into paying higher prices for hotel room bookings.[49]
In March 2023, the United StatesFederal Trade Commission finedFortnite developerEpic Games $245 million for use of "dark patterns to trick users into making purchases." The $245 million will be used to refund affected customers and is the largest refund amount ever issued by the FTC in a gaming case.[50]
In the European Union, the GDPR requires that a user's informed consent to processing of their personal information be unambiguous, freely-given, and specific to each usage of personal information. This is intended to prevent attempts to have users unknowingly accept all data processing by default (which violates the regulation).[51][52][53][54][55]
According to theEuropean Data Protection Board, the "principle of fair processing laid down in Article 5 (1) (a) GDPR serves as a starting point to assess whether a design pattern actually constitutes a 'dark pattern'."[56]
At the end of 2023 the final version of theData Act[57] was adopted. It is one of the three EU legislations which deal expressly with dark patterns.[58] Another one being theDigital Services Act.[59] The third EU legislation on dark patterns in force is the directive financial services contracts concluded at a distance.[60] The Public German Consumer Protection Organisation claimsBig Tech uses dark patterns to violate theDigital Services Act.[61]
In April 2019, the UKInformation Commissioner's Office (ICO) issued a proposed "age-appropriate design code" for the operations of social networking services when used by minors, which prohibits using "nudges" to draw users into options that have low privacy settings. This code would be enforceable under theData Protection Act 2018.[62] It took effect 2 September 2020.[63][64]
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