Draft Guidelines to Prevent and Regulate Dark Patterns in Digital Design Interfaces

• 09 Sep 2023

On 7^th September, 2023, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced that the government is inviting public comments on its draft guidelines aimed at preventing and regulating dark patterns, which are deceptive digital design interfaces employed to influence customer behaviour.

Key Points:

• Definition of Dark Patterns: The guidelines define dark patterns as practices or deceptive design patterns within user interfaces and user experiences across platforms.
• These patterns are intended to mislead or manipulate users into actions they did not originally intend to take.
• Such actions can subvert consumer autonomy, decision-making, or choice, potentially leading to misleading advertising, unfair trade practices, or violations of consumer rights.
• Objective: The primary objective of these guidelines is to identify and regulate practices that manipulate or alter consumer choices through deceptive or misleading techniques and manipulated web designs or user interfaces.

Identification of Dark Patterns

• False Urgency: Creating a false sense of urgency or scarcity to prompt immediate purchases.
• Basket Sneaking: Adding extra items or services to a user's shopping cart during checkout without their consent.
• Confirm Shaming: Employing tactics like fear, shame, ridicule, or guilt to encourage purchases.
• Forced Action: Compelling users to take actions requiring additional purchases or subscriptions to obtain the desired product or service.
• Subscription Trap: Implementing practices that make cancelling a paid subscription difficult or complex.
• Interface Interference: Manipulating design elements to highlight certain information while obscuring relevant information to mislead users.
• Bait and Switch: Advertising one outcome but delivering a different one.
• Drip Pricing: Concealing elements of prices or revealing them subtly within the user experience.
• Disguised Advertisement: Masking advertisements as different types of content, such as user-generated content or news articles.
• Nagging: Overwhelming users with excessive requests, information, options, or interruptions unrelated to their intended purchases.
• Consumer Protection and Regulation: These guidelines seek to regulate practices that rely on deceptive or misleading techniques to influence consumer decisions, ultimately maintaining fairness in digital interactions and transactions.