See if any of this sounds familiar:
● You can’t find an easy way to cancel an unwanted subscription, so you let it continue for another month — telling yourself you’ll try again later.
● You feel rushed into an online purchase you regret, but there’s no option to undo the transaction or demand a refund.
● You want to read an article or shop at a store online, but you’re bombarded with pop-up requests for your data. There’s no easy option for saying no, so you click “allow” just to get the annoying pop-up out of the way.
These are just a few examples of “dark patterns” — intentionally deceptive designs that companies use to steer people into making choices that aren’t in the consumers’ best interest.
Dark patterns may sound like a feature of sketchy websites, but these manipulative practices are a common way mainstream companies dupe people into sacrificing their privacy or paying for stuff they don’t really want. In my latest for ABC News, learn how to fight back companies’ deceptive ‘dark patterns.’