The Fourth Interdisciplinary Summerschool on Privacy (ISP 2019)

Theme: Dark Patterns

At this summer school, we want to focus on dark patterns that impact users' privacy or their ability to practice their data protection rights. Dark patterns raise crucial questions regarding compliance with European data protection legislation and ethical technology deployment. In January 2019 the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) imposed a fine of 50 million Euros on Google "in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding the ads personalization", according to the CNIL. This sky-high fine illustrates the importance paid by regulators to combating dark patterns. Also consumer organisations, like the Norwegian Consumer Council, have reported on how users are ‘deceived by design’ by tech companies, discouraging people to exercise their rights to privacy. In this summerschool we also propose to look beyond the interface, and ask, where do dark patterns emerge in the production of internet-based services, in the organizing of software and hardware infrastructures, in the elaboration and interpretation of laws, in the push for certain economic models, and conceptions of data, systems, users, and the social. How do we come to recognize, uncover, resist and prevent dark patterns in these different socio-technical contexts?

Dark patterns as a concept is a not easy to pin down, since manipulation of environment and behavior can be seen as a part of any design intervention. Yet, the rise of the concept is indicative that there are a considerable set of practices that are identified under the label of dark patterns. In this context, at the summer school, we will discuss study dark matters and ask whether intentions matter, or outcomes can also serve as a way to identify whether a practice may qualify as a dark pattern in the context of privacy and data protection. Being able to think collectively about this hard question will provide us with tools, methods and arguments to address the continuum between poor design or decisions, lack of resources, incompetence, recklessness, optimization, externalization of costs, and intentional patterns that lead to manipulation, deception or unwarranted levels of persuasion. We will explore together where we can productively draw the line when it comes to patterns that harm vs. patterns that just do, and how technical, social, ethical, legal and economic practices may be reimagined to address these practices.

See this page for additional resources on Dark Patterns.