AN OVERVIEW

The intersection of the psychology behind human-centered design and its darker implications gives rise to a phenomenon known as dark patterns. Coined in 2010 by Harry Brignull, the term “dark patterns” refers to manipulative design techniques in websites and apps that subtly, yet effectively, coerce users into actions that benefit the service provider—often at the user’s expense. These actions might involve relinquishing money, personal information, or time, typically without the user’s full understanding or consent.

Dark patterns can range from a simple nuisance to an overt deception. In today’s tech-driven world, where interactions with devices and digital platforms are constant, identifying dark patterns has become a challenge with significant implications. When users are bombarded with and desensitized to such tactics, they may overlook manipulative strategies or comply with the tactic out of sheer frustration. This ultimately benefits big businesses that use dark patterns. They succeed in exploiting their userbase by eroding their ability to resist or identify deceptive practices.

LITIGATION

Epic Games

The FTC and Epic Games, creator of the popular online game Fortnite, reached a landmark $245 million settlement following the FTC’s allegations of deceptive practices. The FTC cited Epic Games with employing dark patterns to mislead players into making unintended in-game purchases. These practices resulted in numerous unauthorized transactions affecting both adults and children.

Among the FTC’s findings were instances in which players, including minors, were charged without explicit consent. The confusing design of Fortnite’s interface tricked users, allowing for accidental purchases with a single button click. Parents reported children making transactions without their knowledge or approval. In cases in which consumers attempted to dispute these unauthorized charges with their credit card companies, Epic Games allegedly retaliated by locking their accounts, thereby denying them access to content they had already paid for.

The $245 million settlement, which has been allocated to reimburse affected consumers, is the largest administrative order in FTC history and the FTC’s largest refund amount in a gaming case. This action is part of a broader settlement with Epic Games, which also includes a $275 million penalty for violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the details of which are beyond the scope of this NewsBreak.

Payouts started in December 2024 to Fortnite gamers who were charged for unwanted purchases and submitted a valid claim by Oct. 8, 2024. As of this writing, the FTC is distributing 629,344 payments totaling more than $72 million to U.S. Fortnite players. In addition, the FTC is currently in the process of reviewing claims made after Oct. 8, 2024. To be eligible for a repayment, one of the following criteria must have been met and a claim filed by Jan. 10, 2025:

• A user was charged in-game currency for unwanted items between January 2017 and September 2022.
• A child made unauthorized charges to an adult’s credit card between January 2017 and November 2018.
• A user’s account was locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after disputing wrongful charges with the user’s credit card company.

The settlement underscores the FTC’s commitment to addressing deceptive practices in the digital marketplace and protecting consumers of all ages from exploitative designs. This case serves as a warning to other companies about the importance of ethical design practices and adherence to consumer protection laws.

Amazon

The FTC has built upon its Negative Option Rule by creating a revision in late 2024 called the Rule Concerning Recurring Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Programs. The revision aims to protect consumers from deceptive enrollment, billing, and cancellation practices while providing businesses with clear, unified guidelines to foster customer trust, avoiding enforcement actions. In other words, preventing dark patterns from misleading the customer.

This click-to-cancel rule was spurred on by large corporations that use unethical techniques to trap or trick customers into decision making. A prime example is the FTC’s ongoing 2023 lawsuit against Amazon for using dark patterns with Prime. Amazon employs the roach motel tactic (i.e., it’s easy to get in, but hard to get out) to try to coerce users into Prime subscriptions. When the user tries to cancel, they have to go though myriad steps (once they found the correct screen to initiate cancellation), options, forced persuasion attempts to continue or pause the membership, and offers of a lower rate (e.g., $1.99 for the next 7 days) before actually being able to confirm cancellation. The FTC claims that Amazon’s automatic Prime renewal wastes customers’ money because the convoluted cancellation process is hard to find and complicated to complete.

Additionally, the Amazon checkout process is riddled with subtle dark patterns. Consumers encounter multiple prompts to subscribe to Amazon Prime at a rate of $14.99 per month (or a different promotional rate). In some instances, the option to complete purchases without subscribing to Prime is less accessible and harder to identify. In other instances, the button used to finalize transactions does not clearly indicate that selecting it would also enroll the consumer in a recurring Prime subscription.

According to the FTC, Amazon is aware of its dark pattern use, in not so many words: “The complaint notes that Amazon was aware of consumers being nonconsensually enrolled and the complex and confusing process to cancel Prime that the company’s executives failed to take any meaningful steps to address … until they were aware of the FTC investigation. In the complaint, the FTC also alleges that Amazon attempted to delay and hinder the Commission’s investigation in multiple instances.”

A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

As technology advances, deceptive design practices keep evolving—a predictable trend in our digital world. What’s changing is that major companies are now facing lawsuits for using these manipulative tactics. As legal precedents are established, consumers gain substantial protections in the long term. The FTC’s click-to-cancel rule represents a move to a broader regulatory crackdown on unscrupulous subscription practices.

This shift toward enhanced consumer protection signals meaningful progress in the fight against deceptive dark patterns. Companies must now redesign their subscription systems to be more transparent and fairer or risk legal action. Yes, there are other dark pattern practices afoot, but we are seeing tangible steps taken that benefit users.