Turns out, there is a dark art of web design. Inventory trackers, countdown clocks and fake reviews are rampant on e-commerce sites, and all are used to influence how consumers buy. But their contents ...

If you’ve ever had to call to cancel a subscription you signed up for online in seconds, uncheck a preselected agreement to receive ads in the mail or been tricked into upgrading to a premium economy ...

A new piece of bipartisan legislation aims to protect people from one of the sketchiest practices that tech companies employ to subtly influence user behavior. Known as “dark patterns,” this dodgy ...

Dark patterns are design elements that deliberately obscure, mislead, coerce and/or deceive website visitors into making unintended and possibly harmful choices. Dark patterns can be found in many ...

Regulators are now taking serious note of manipulative designs in websites and apps intended to shape consumer choice ...

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect in May 2018 to give users more transparency into and control over their personal data. A key component is that companies ...

With the coronavirus pandemic shutting things down worldwide and fear and uncertainty on the rise, consumers need trusted sources of information more than ever before. Unfortunately, falling consumer ...

“Dark pattern design” is the practice of using software design to influence the behavior of users. The practice is becoming so large that the U.S. Senate is planning to pass a bill to control its use, ...

When I visit my aging mother in the Midwest, I watch as she sits at her computer endlessly scrolling on Facebook. Like many of us, her use of social media has gone far past simple utility (“I need it ...