Facebook and Google accused of using ‘dark patterns’ to mislead users into sharing personal data

Are Google and Facebook misleading European users into sharing more of their personal data than they think?

According to a new consumer advocacy report from the Norwegian Consumer Council, they most certainly are.

The NCC dropped a 44-page report on Wednesday detailing how three of the world’s biggest tech companies are “nudging” their users through “dark patterns” of user interface designs and carefully crafted wording to agree to privacy settings that share their personal data that the GDPR was setup to protect.

“Dark patterns” are designs and user interfaces that are specifically crafted to trick users into buying, signing up, or taking some other action they did not intend to. The NCC report, titled “Deceived By Design,” explains just how these dark patterns are being implemented by internet companies. Read more…

More about Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Privacy, and Data Privacy