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Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

regulations.gov

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Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#401

Post by judge2020 »

snu wrote: post #377

Am I the only one who thinks its crazy it has taken them this long to do anything about this? This has been a real problem for well over 20 years. Anyone else remember internet explorer toolbars? So many installers would include these, and avoiding installing them became progressively more difficult over time. They started with a simple checkbox that was enabled by default (bad enough if you ask me), then progressed…

Most consumers really don't care since they can just buy an iPhone and call it a day, largely distancing themselves from most dark patterns (which doesn't eliminate them). Maybe leadership or culture in the agencies involved has changed to the point where they'll actually look out for consumers before they start complaining on such a large scale.

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#402

Post by inopinatus »

reificator wrote: post #236
coddle-hark wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was driving me crazy too, turns out that my adblocker was breaking the consent box. Clicking “Accept” didn’t do anything.

The trick there is to use your adblocker to pick the consent box and hide it, and then edit the custom rule to apply to every site.

if that's μblock Origin, then

    ##.js-consent-banner
    ##.js-dismissable-hero
in your filter config does it.

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#404

Post by aero-glide2 »

lima wrote: post #51

Slack has a fun dark pattern - they purposefully remove functionality from their web app to make you install their native app. The web app has a workspace switcher sidebar, but it only appears on ChromeOS, where you can't install the native client. https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/144258/slacks-we...

Reddit does that too for the mobile website. So the job of some programmers is to literally provide a worse experience for their users. Sad life.

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#406

Post by aero-glide2 »

fpig wrote: post #17

The worst one is probably trying to make it hard for users to stop paying for a service, like cancelling a subscription. That shit should be punishable by literal prison time.

Washington Post keeps sending me "Please subscribe" emails even after I opted out of their emails so many times.

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#407

Post by shockeychap »

How about hiding user comments behind a click so that you can’t read multiple comments at once? How about requiring unnecessary PII to solicit feedback? How about presenting a redundant set of vague and unnecessary elements like a “Comment ID” AND a “Tracking Number”?

Leave it to the federal government to utilize three dark patterns on a website soliciting feedback on the very subject.

sigh

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#408

Post by rhaksw »

Reddit shows you your removed comments as if they're not removed, and you get no notification. I made a site that shows this [1]. Try it here [2].

[1] https://www.reveddit.com/about/faq/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/CantSayAnything/about/sticky

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#409

Post by jclulow »

drexlspivey wrote: post #378
bogwog wrote: post #152

A common one is fake consent popups for system notifications. Websites need to ask for consent before sending system notifications via the Notifications API. If a user declines, that website is blocked from asking again (for obvious reasons) But many websites cheat this by showing a fake consent popup designed to mimic what the browser would show. If a user clicks "Decline" on the fake popup, the website won't show t…

A similar one is asking you to rate the app via the native modal (which does nothing) and if you rate with 5 stars they redirect you to the app store to vote there (where it counts). If you rate them with 1-3 stars they prompt you to leave feedback instead.

I recall experiencing at least one application that would crash if you declined to rate it in the app store. I'm sure it was just shoddy implementation, not handling some condition correctly, but it was hard not to feel like it was intentional.

Re: Request for comments regarding topics to be discussed at Dark Patterns workshop

#410

Post by AlexCoventry »

easterncalculus wrote: post #207

One example for sure is the endless CAPTCHAs you receive on virtually any large website when you attempt to connect from TOR. Each time you solve one it takes forever just to complain about how you spending several minutes selecting every 'light' suddenly isn't good enough to prove your humanity. You're not "checking if I'm human" 60 times in a row, you're blocking me for not wanting to be tracked on your website.

I can't see the US government getting excited about regulating away a pattern which makes TOR harder to use, though.
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