Norwegian Government report says Tech Giants are using dark patterns to nudge people give up data.
General Protection Privacy Regulation (or GDPR) of European Union which raises the standards and stakes of personal data privacy, went into effect from June 2018. Now a report published by The Consumer Council of Norway (Forbrukerrådet) says tech giants are using ‘dark patterns’ or UI designs to “nudge users away from the privacy friendly choices”.
As they argue, providers of digital services use a vast array of user design techniques in order to nudge users toward clicking and choosing certain options. This is not in itself a problem, but the use of exploitative design choices, or “dark patterns”, is arguably an unethical attempt to push consumers toward choices that benefit the service provider. More in the attached report…