Protecting privacy in a world of dark patterns

The use of Dark patterns has become increasingly popular in recent years. For this reason, the Spanish Data Protection Agency recently imposed the first fine for the use of techniques that influence consumer decisions, leading users to make unwanted and potentially harmful choices in relation to the processing of their personal data.

The 12,000-euro sanction was imposed on a company that owns a website for incurring different dark pattern techniques such as: overloading, where the user is faced with multiple choices, causing fatigue and potentially leading him to share more information than desired; and hiding, using key settings against data processing that are hidden or difficult to find.

This sanction is based on the European Data Protection Board’s version 2.0 guidelines 03 of 2022, which identifies six main categories of dark patterns: overloading, omission, agitation, obstruction, inconsistency, and leaving in the dark.

Consequently, it is important that organizations avoid the use of dark patterns and focus on designing interfaces that promote transparency and user control over their consumption decisions where their personal data is involved.

Original source in Spanish.