CCPA issues guidelines to regulate dark patterns

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has released guidelines aimed at preventing and regulating dark patterns. These patterns inyvolve deceptive design practices on various platforms, intending to mislead users and compromise their autonomy. The guidelines cover platforms offering goods or services in India, as well as advertisers and sellers.

One notable example is "False Urgency," which involves creating a false sense of urgency or scarcity to prompt immediate user actions. Another practice, "Basket Sneaking," involves adding extra items during checkout without user consent, resulting in a higher total payable amount.

Other prohibited practices include "Confirm Shaming," using fear or shame to manipulate user behavior, "Forced Action," compelling users into unwanted actions, and the "Subscription Trap," which makes canceling subscriptions difficult.

The guidelines also address practices like "Interface Interference," manipulating user interfaces, "Bait and Switch," advertising one outcome but delivering another, and "Drip Pricing," where elements of prices are revealed later or surreptitiously.

The document further covers "Disguised Advertisement," presenting ads as other content types, "Nagging," persistent and disruptive interactions, "Trick Question," using confusing language to misguide users, and "Saas Billing," the collection of payments in SaaS models through recurring subscriptions.

Additionally, it mentions "Rogue Malwares," employing ransomware or scareware to deceive users into paying for fake malware removal tools.

These guidelines aim to safeguard consumer rights by curbing deceptive practices in the digital realm.