On the trail of dark patterns: Consumer protection project successfully concluded
Manipulative interfaces are ubiquitous on the Internet: Project 'Dark Pattern Detection App' has thoroughly investigated this phenomenon and identified legal and technical countermeasures to protect consumers. The project was successfully brought to a conclusion at the NIPAG on 31 July 2024.
'Only one item remaining' or '20 people have this item in the cart': Consumers are constantly bombarded with manipulative messages and mechanisms like these, especially when shopping online. They are designed to persuade them to make hasty purchases or to agree to cookie settings. These are often 'dark patterns', which can take different forms.
Project 'Dark Pattern Detection App' has analysed these manipulative online interfaces that are so damaging to consumers, classified them in legal terms, and has created a 'Dapde Pattern Highlighter', a proof-of-concept browser plug-in that automatically detects and highlights these patterns.
Successful conclusion to the project with numerous publications and events
At its final closure on 31 July 2024, the project showed that it had had a successful run since its launch in January 2020, producing eight scientific publications, a multi-day online conference and various other formats for exchange between the scientific community and civil society.
The project was divided into a legal and a technical sub-project. The legal part of the project at NIPAG was led by Prof. Dr Mario Martini and coordinated at the end of the project by Paul Seeliger. The technical part was led by Prof. Dr Michael Gertz from the Institute of Computer Science at Heidelberg University. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (Bundesumwelt- und Verbraucherschutzministerium - BMUV).
Important digital regulations analysed
From a legal perspective, the project examined areas of law such as consumer protection, unfair competition and competition law in terms of their resilience to subconscious influence. Data protection law and newer digital (platform) regulation laws also provided important points of reference. In this context, the legal sub-project was in the privileged position of being able to follow important digital regulations, such as the Digital Services Act and the AI Regulation, and to analyse their impact on dark patterns during the legislative process. The project also published the first comprehensive German-language mapping and legal analysis of the dark patterns phenomenon, which was well received by experts.
The results of the project and further technical information can be found on the project homepage at https://dapde.de/
Selected publications on the subject
Dark Patterns im Scheinwerferlicht des Digital Services Act
Der Beitrag analysiert die einschlägigen normativen Vorgaben des Digital Services Act und ergründet, was diese für die Praxis der Designgestaltung bedeuten.
Dark Patterns: Eine interdisziplinäre Analyse
Um Dark Patterns in all ihren Facetten zu beleuchten und Gefahren für Verbraucher wirksam abzuwehren, bedarf es eines interdisziplinären Schulterschlusses der Verhaltensökonomie, Rechtswissenschaft und Informatik.
Dark Patterns als Herausforderung für das Recht
Der Beitrag ordnet dieses neue Phänomen (verhaltens-)ökonomisch sowie rechtlich ein. Er entwickelt Grundlinien zum verfassungsrechtlich erforderlichen Autonomieschutz sowie einer regulatorischen Antwort auf Dark Patterns.
Related Projects
Dark Pattern Detection Project (Dapde)
Manipulative interfaces are pervasive on the Internet, particularly in the domain of online shopping. Consumers are persistently confronted with mechanisms that are designed to influence them to make hasty (purchasing) decisions that are incongruent with their interests or even contradictory. Furthermore, examples of dark patterns include subscription traps, trick questions and bait-and-switch tactics. In addition to legal solutions, the project has also developed technical support for consumers. The prototype, currently known as the 'Dark Pattern Blocker', has been developed by a cooperation partner at the University of Heidelberg. It functions similarly to an ad blocker, identifying and neutralising dark patterns. The prototype can recognise and flag specific dark patterns, highlight them for the user, and provide an explanation of their impact. The DaPDE team at the National Institute for Public Administration Germany is examining the technical aspects to ensure they align with legal standards.
