The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), the leading consumer protection agency in India, recently released guidelines for the prevention and regulation of Dark Patterns in 2023. The establishment of these guidelines is the CCPA’s latest effort in safeguarding consumers from deceptive practices that online platforms may use. These protective measures are implemented under the Consumer Protection Act of 2019.
Understanding the Concept of Dark Patterns
Dark patterns, synonymous with deceitful patterns, are strategies that are used by websites and applications to lead users into taking actions they did not initially plan to engage in or to deter behaviors that don’t promote the companies’ interests. These patterns often take advantage of cognitive biases and apply tactics like creating false urgency, demanding forced actions, and incorporating hidden costs.
Key Guidelines in Preventing and Regulating Dark Patterns
The newly notified guidelines strongly discourage the use of dark patterns as a means to deceive or pressure users into particular actions. They instead promote ethical and customer-focused methods for retaining users and encouraging sales. Applicable to all platforms offering goods and services in India, including advertisers and sellers, these regulations concerning dark patterns extend their influence. E-commerce operators, websites, and applications fall under the jurisdiction of this regulatory framework established through these guidelines.
Thirteen Types of Dark Patterns Defined by CCPA
Within the notification, CCPA has identified 13 types of dark patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement, nagging, trick question, Saas billing, and rogue malwares.
The Role and Objective of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was established to protect and champion consumers’ rights in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. Aiming for the effective enforcement and enhancement of consumer rights, the CCPA’s main objective is to promote, safeguard, and enforce consumers’ rights collectively. The CCPA holds the power to carry out investigations into any violations of consumer rights, initiate complaints or prosecutions, order the recall of unsafe goods and services, command discontinuation of unfair trading practices and misleading advertisements, and impose fines on manufacturers, endorsers, or publishers of misleading advertisements.