New Delhi: The government recently launched the Dark Patterns Buster Hackathon 2023 in partnership with IIT-BHU, encouraging hackers to create solutions to protect consumers from deceptive dark patterns.
The hackathon, initiated by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), aims to design and prototype innovative apps or software solutions capable of detecting dark patterns on e-commerce websites.
While there are currently no specific laws governing dark patterns, they are considered unfair trade practices and a violation of consumer rights, according to Nidhi Khare, Special Secretary with DoCA.
Dark patterns are deceptive design patterns within user interfaces, intended to mislead or manipulate users into doing something they have no intention of doing.
The hackathon will run until February 17, 2024, featuring four levels of participation. The winning software tool should utilise artificial intelligence for accurate pattern detection and should be compatible with various browsers and user-friendly, as explained by N S Rajput, an IIT-BHU professor.
Five winning teams will receive cash prizes of up to Rs 10 lakh. Rohit Kumar Singh, the consumer affairs secretary, said, “India is the first country to take concrete steps on cracking down on these dark patterns.”
In September, DoCA requested public feedback on draft guidelines for preventing and regulating dark patterns, identifying ten such patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking (inclusion of additional items such as products, payments to charity/donation, services at the time of checkout from a platform, without the consent of a user), and confirm shaming (this is accomplished by employing phrases, videos, audio, or other methods to evoke feelings of fear, shame, or guilt in the user’s psyche, ultimately motivating them to take specific actions leading to the purchase of a product or service).
Following positive feedback from industry stakeholders, three new dark patterns were added to the guidelines: “trick question,” “Saas billing,” and “rogue malware.” These patterns involve misleading language, recurring billing in software as a service, and deceptive tactics using ransomware or scareware.
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