"How Dark Patterns Manipulate Internet Users Every Day"

According to Dr. Arianna Rossi, a research scientist in the Socio-technical Cybersecurity (IRiSC) research group at the University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust (SnT), the concept of dark patterns extends far beyond the color of buttons. When using a digital platform, a decision is usually presented to the user. This could be to subscribe to a service, accept or reject cookies, or share with a network, but it is the user's choice. However, the color of a button can impact a person's decision. For example, one button is often in a bright color while the less preferred button next to it is often grey. These practices, known as dark patterns, are increasingly being exposed as manipulative tactics designed to trick or mislead users into making decisions that benefit a service. Dr. Rossi emphasizes that manipulation tactics are everywhere, from overwhelming users with too much information and too many options to automatically selecting options for users or even playing on users' emotional heartstrings. Children and the elderly are often thought to be the most vulnerable, but no one can be protected from these tactics because they rely on cognitive biases and bounded rationality, which everyone is subject to, according to Dr. Rossi. Cookie banners, for example, are filled with dark patterns that make it easy to accept data-invading settings but difficult to reject. Users often overlook the potential consequences of accepting cookies because interacting with the site's content is the initial concern. Underpinning this decision are the privacy-invading implications of extensive tracking of users' online activities and the inferred data about them, including sensitive data such as health status, sexual orientation, and many other insights that can be derived from a user's navigation habits. In the "Deceptive Patterns Online (DECEPTICON)" project, researchers from the IRiSC group, the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) group within the Faculty of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences (FHSE), and the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (LIST) are collaborating to investigate the effects of dark patterns on Internet users and to develop a set of multi-disciplinary criteria and tools. The team will provide expertise in cybersecurity, online privacy, data protection compliance, and more. This article continues to discuss the concept of dark patterns and the collaborative research project examining these patterns. 

University of Luxembourg reports "How Dark Patterns Manipulate Internet Users Every Day"