In the first part of this post, we demonstrated how everyone encounters dark patterns because they have become part of the normal functioning of most platforms and sites, and we have given a definition for them. In the second part, we answered the question why we should talk about them, since we are so used to their application. In the third part we talked more about the harm of dark models and their characteristics. In the fourth, we explained why these dark models are so effective and destructive, and we began to divide them into groups to make it easier for us to identify them. We explained the meaning of sneak into basket, comparison prevention and misdirection. Then we talked about what the bait and switch, Confirmshaming, framing and disguised advertisements patterns are. Then came Ease, Hidden Information, Default Settings, Forced Continuity, Forced Disclosure, Captive Audience, or the Milk Factor). We do not stop there, because dark patterns are many and varied. See what else there is.
Taxonomy of dark models
- We have rewards and punishments when consumers are rewarded or punished for their choices. For example, you want to read the jokes of vesti.bg, but you do not want to accept cookies. No problem, they made it easy. However, each time you load the site, the message appears in the center of the screen and you have to make 2 to 3 clicks each time to cancel. And in the last pop-up window, you're even a little hesitant about what you need to click on to refuse the cookies. If you do not deal with this annoying procedure every day, you finally give up, accept all the cookies and receive the award - fun.


- Friend spam - a new application that you install on your phone asks you to access your contacts. You agree, mechanically. Then it starts sending your entire contact list some suggestions to join a network or visit a site.
- Trick questions - if they ask you questions with double negations or some ornate explanations, then something is wrong.
- Illusion of control - imagine how they make you click a large number of filters and options, ostensibly to control the security of your information, just make you tired of reading and clicking. If the options are complex and misleading and you are tired of trying to understand them and make the right decisions, you can give up and voluntarily give up that control. This is how you hand over the entire electronic file, your Big Data - which sites you visit, what you click, where you look for a long time, etc. For this you can read in our publication CONSUMER'S READER: YOUR BIG DATA AS A CONSUMER CAN PREDICT WHAT YOU NEED.
- Attention grabber - you find yourself somewhere in the web, where they have strategically placed a banner or something else that provokes your reaction and holds your attention. In this way, false testimonials are presented, unverified facts are created, the feeling is created that something is generally accepted and liked by many people, in order to deceive you that it is ok to acquire it. These are the pop-ups in online stores that explain to you that someone has just bought the same pot you are looking at. After a while another did the same. You say, these pots are probably very good, I will get one … but that you understand that the same pot is on another site much cheaper.
- Making personal information public - you enter a space or system, agree to share personal information and it displays your data publicly. The most common example is various public subscriptions which support a certain cause, which do not warn you that when you sign it, you this action is published on your Facebook wall as announcement. Don't let everyone look at how you have just supported the believers that the Earth is flat, who are raising funds to prove to the world that it has been deluding itself since the time of Galileo.
In the next, eighth part of the publication, we continue with the categorization of dark patterns. Follow it in the News of nais.bg.
Sources:
https://www.acm.nl/sites/default/files/documents/2020-02/acm-guidelines-on-the-protection-of-the-online-consumer.pdf
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2101.04843.pdf
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3472316