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Sneaky user interfaces, such as unwanted bundleware default checkboxes are now expanding into digital newspaper subscriptions. The Boston Globe's site uses lightly-colored close buttons and increases the price as the user goes through the sales process, as well as includes some newsletter-signup defaults. These dishonest-by-design interface elements that are intended to trick or obfuscate users are called dark patterns.
What are some of the most egregious examples you have seen? Have you even been asked to implement a design you found morally distasteful?
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Sneaky Sales and Pricing Practices Online
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Do not use if foil seal is broken.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @05:06AM
I clickd a buncha crap and duh total price of mah cart goes up? How it possible?
Mah cousin sayed if ya lean on da self check out muhsheen at teh store it charge ya moar to? How it possible?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @05:47AM
It's as if you don't agree that private business produces the best possible results. I'm watching you.
Private business that gives you 100 cell phone plans but not one that just does phone calls. Any TV channel you want, as long as you buy 99 you don't want. These are amazing products of the free market and our CEO got a huge bonus for paying for someone to come up with those. Just like your little website, some CEO got a nice rise for improving it like that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @06:33AM
Private business would stop selling if people would stop buying. You say you don't like the taste of shit but why do you keep eating shit?
(Score: 4, Touché) by sjames on Tuesday April 26 2016, @06:49AM
here's why [youtube.com]. Food without shit in it isn't on offer.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Tuesday April 26 2016, @12:34PM
So offer it. You'll get a lot of customers.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday April 26 2016, @07:19AM
So right. If we stopped buying it, businesses would stop foisting it on us.
It would ruin a restaurant's image to have a picture of a hamburger with cooked cockroach served. The cockroach indicates careless kitchenmanship and spreading of disease.
Likewise, it should be ruining web business' image to have their webmaster using the same techniques used to spread malware.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Tuesday April 26 2016, @09:12AM
Private business would stop selling if people would stop buying. You say you don't like the taste of shit but why do you keep eating shit?
Well we all need to buy something, food for example.
But the point here is people being tricked into buying something they had no intention of buying. It's shit being rammed down our throats. Did you read either the summary or TFA before your knee-jerk free-market meme popped out?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Justin Case on Tuesday April 26 2016, @12:27PM
100 cell phone plans but not one that just does phone calls
My cell phone just does phone calls. And texts. $10 a month plus 5 cents a minute. May not be what you're looking for, but it exists. I got it from a private business, a huge nasty corporation called Kroger.
Any TV channel you want, as long as you buy 99 you don't want.
Hmmm, seems like you've identified a market need. Why don't you start your own company and provide "Any TV channel you want, and you DON'T have to buy 99 you don't want." I'd switch in a second.
Of course, there are plenty of good answers to why you can't start your own company to provide that service. And as you list those reasons, you'll discover why the thing you're complaining about is not a free market.
(Score: 2) by patella.whack on Tuesday April 26 2016, @06:32AM
While I appreciate your submission, GungnirSniper, this kind of thing has been the forseeable endgame for 20yrs.
What I'd like to hear are not examples of WOTD: "dark patterns" but rather the combat.
Perhaps you're right. Let's hear about what programmers are asked to do so we can get an insight re:tactics.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday April 26 2016, @02:12PM
Pretty much. I think the only real way of combating the most egregious examples is to use prepaid cards or those virtual cards that some credit card issuers offer. Just input an expiration date prior to the date of renewal or put a limit on it's that so low that the renewal fails.
It's going to be hard for the merchant to argue that you intended to have a subscription if the card expires and you don't go to their site and update the information.
Most of the other stuff isn't quite as bad as you can just not buy. There's usually another option that isn't as slimy. It's mostly things like cellphones, ISPs and Cable companies that don't have a good alternative other than doing without. And those problems are primarily regulatory and probably won't be fixed as long as you've got politicians taking money from corporations that make all of their money through slimy business tactics.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Wednesday April 27 2016, @03:37AM
but rather the combat
How about this [popehat.com]? It's about a blogger's investigation (Ken White of the "Popehat" blog) of a blatant group of scammers who originally caught the eye of the author due to a bogus invoice. What's useful about it is that it provides an in-depth story of the author's investigative approach that accumulates online data, legal data, "tipsters", and even enemies of the targets, a series of shifty businesses which quickly started scamming across the US. While it's not clear if the author's efforts contributed (the official federal-level indictment took four and a half years after the author started collecting data), it does provide a blueprint for acting against anyone with illegal and fraudulent business practices.
He also quotes excerpts from legal testimony that document some genuine sociopathic behavior, particularly, something he called the "con-man lull" where the scammers would put off payment of checks (a key part of one branch of their scamming which involved a variety of payroll-based scams), sometimes successfully for months, coming up with one excuse after another. One of the scammers when confronted by an employee looking for a well overdue paycheck, wrote said check, and then put a stop on it the next day. He then made a check out for a sports car payment (which didn't bounce).
(Score: 5, Informative) by anubi on Tuesday April 26 2016, @07:11AM
Many businesses have just plain gotten sneaky. You have to be very careful, and often then its not enough. YOU may catch and correct the checkbox, but they may not honor your denial and do it anyway, knowing that as a business, they can always use the "hold harmless" clause.
The internet is not a safe place, and trust is hard to come by. I would even venture as far as to say most internet businesses are banking on the one-time visit; that if they can convince you to do business with them just once, that's good enough, as there are millions of us out here, and even if they leave a sour trail, they can always change their name and make the rounds again... just like the old traveling snake-oil salesmen of my grandpa's day who would travel the old country roads - town to town - selling useless medicines often made from turpentine, weeds, and moonshine leftovers.
Getting a good copy of public domain software is getting to be a trick these days as many webmasters are mastering the art of using JavaScript to download, force feeding users to accept a live download without being able to get a copy for inspection first. I always want to get a copy of an install package first and MD5 and SHA it for my own peace of mind before executing it. If I as much as submit to Google an MD5 of the file in question, they can usually tell me if either some virus research company has "blessed" it or if it has left a bunch of people in the wake of a mess of problems.
Webmasters with evil intent will use JavaScript to force the issue with their "installers". One really has to have a lot of either faith or gullibility to drop their pants for this. Once you have instructed your machine to accept their insert, no telling what they put in the pipe. Its like signing a blank check.
Wasn't it even our own SourceForge which sold out to the Business-Men of the JavaScript? [howtogeek.com]
We have internet shysters today just as grandpa had snake oil salesmen, however the internet has enabled people to build up a reputation pretty fast. The *one* thing that every shyster I have run across on the net will use JavaScript to enforce his insistence that I not know what he's going to do until he has done it - and even then he may have implanted a time delay bug, keylogger, or some other monitoring app in my machine I will not ever know about.
For me, personally, the non-transparency of what JavaScript is doing in my machine has gotten so bad that when even legit merchants use the same techniques the evil webmasters use, they too become untrusted and I am very loathe to do business that way. There are still a lot of businesses that will ask me to turn my machine over to them because they can code it in a script - now how uneasy would they feel if I also demanded access to their machine likewise? Would they feel uneasy if I brought a bunch of kids into their store ( hold harmless! You can't touch a kid! ) and they headed straight for his cash register and wanted to count the money in it, even if they didn't take any? Even if I had them wear cute little pullovers with an image of a cup of coffee embroidered on the front? I betcha they would not want to do business if I did something like that.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Justin Case on Tuesday April 26 2016, @12:39PM
If it is a significant, reputable software package it probably has a wikipedia page. From there, follow the link to the origin of the software.
And yeah, if you encounter mandatory JavaShit anywhere, you're either dealing with a crook or an idiot. Either way, move along, nothing to see here.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by halcyon1234 on Tuesday April 26 2016, @01:20PM
Counterpoint: The wikipage can be both deceiving and enlightening. Take CDEX for example. A simple, lightweight CD burner I've used for years. (Still have a CD player in car, blah, blah, whatever). So I'm on a new computer, and want to make a CD. I can't remember the download site. Search for CDEX takes me to some download-ware sites. Not enthused. Check Wikipedia for the actual link, and...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDex [wikipedia.org]
Find out the company's been bought out by a scummy bundle-corp who is installing adware/malware bundled with the latest (now closed source) binary. (There's been some editing on the page since, but it's in the history)
Original Submission [thedailywtf.com]
(Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Tuesday April 26 2016, @09:09PM
SourceForge was recently purchased by a company from Dice. They said the first thing they wanted to do was get rid of the crapped up downloads and start rebuilding trust. Whiplash on ./ has posted some about their plan.
(Score: 2) by SacredSalt on Tuesday April 26 2016, @08:47AM
was on a product from Panda software. They make a reasonably decent bootable antivirus, and a fair desktop one. I don' t have many issues with their products, I do have issues that when my mother tried to visit them she couldn't find anything that wasn't a monthly subscription service no matter what trail of links she tried to follow.
A whole lot of bait and switch there.
I've noticed the live downloader trend on linux as well. I went through it over printer drivers. One week I could get a copy without it a few weeks later I couldn't without running their installer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @01:25PM
A lot of printer drivers on Windows require you to run the installer nowadays, particularly HP ones. The HP ones though, they unzip to a Temp folder or a printer-specific folder on the system drive - when the installer is waiting for input, you can copy the temporary folder to capture the exposed driver. You miss out some other things it will install if you do this though (TWAIN drivers, particularly).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Nuke on Tuesday April 26 2016, @09:07AM
FTFA :-
the real price isn’t the $0.99 per week in the banner ad, ....... It’s $6.93 per week ...... Since this price only kicks in after a year, it’s almost impossible for average users to notice, unless they carefully check each and every bank statement.
This is exactly why I do not pay things by Direct Debit, yet people call me old-fashioned for it (it has happened on this forum).
In fact, I check each and every bank statement as well, but even if you discover that someone has been using a DD arrangement to milk your money you are still heading for a long hassle even to stop it (if you ever can), let alone get your money back. As TFA points out, it is far harder to unsubscribe from this Boston Globe than it is to subscribe.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @11:36AM
The bank doesn't send me statements any more - it is available "online".
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Tuesday April 26 2016, @12:12PM
They are still statements.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Webweasel on Tuesday April 26 2016, @01:31PM
Errr... no that's not quite right.
Certainly direct debit has some authorisation issues, anyone who knows you bank account number can setup a direct debit as http://www.theguardian.com/money/2008/jan/07/personalfinancenews.scamsandfraud [theguardian.com]Jeremey Clarkson knows.
However, your wrong about getting your money back. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_debit#Guarantee [wikipedia.org]
The Direct Debit Guarantee provides three important safeguards to protect customers:
Immediate refunds. Customers can get a full and immediate refund from their bank or building society in the event of an error in the payment of a Direct Debit.
Advance notice. Customers must be told the amount and date of each payment 10 working days (unless agreed otherwise) in advance.
Instant cancellations. Customers can cancel a Direct Debit at any time
Applys in the UK only though, so YMMV
Priyom.org Number stations, Russian Military radio. "You are a bad, bad man. Do you have any other virtues?"-Runaway1956
(Score: 3, Informative) by pendorbound on Tuesday April 26 2016, @02:30PM
There are far fewer protections on direct debit in the US. In some egregious cases, closing your bank account may not even be enough to stop it as many banks will (helpfully) automatically reopen an account if there's activity on it within 30 days of closing. And charge you overdraft fees for the debits against it after you closed & zeroed it.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday April 26 2016, @04:42PM
In my country (Canada) you can tell your bank to "stop payment". The fee for this is much lower than any overdraft fees.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @06:05PM
> Applys in the UK only though, so YMMV
You really buried the lead there.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Nuke on Wednesday April 27 2016, @12:14PM
Customers can get a full and immediate refund from their bank or building society in the event of an error in the payment of a Direct Debit.
Yes, I keep hearing that. But it does not mean an error in your opinion, it means an error in everyone's agreed opinion, including the merchant's. The merchant in the case being discussed here would not agree that there had been an error, they would claim that you had just changed your mind after buying something. I am in the UK too BTW.
(Score: 3, Informative) by rondon on Tuesday April 26 2016, @02:36PM
Talk to your bank if you get ACH Direct Debits that are not authorized or correct. They should absolutely be on your side, as the laws around ACH are very onerous for banks.
A bank I used to work with dropped several ACH customers during my tenure there because they had to refund customers money. This puts their ACH operations at risk, which makes them very, very mad.
Again, do not in any way deal with the offending party unless you intend to continue doing business with them. Your bank (as long as you aren't talking to a mindless peon, avoid those please) will be immensely more help. If you do need to continue doing business with the offending party, let them know that if they don't fix it immediately you will talk to your bank, who will.
I used to work at a bank in the ACH dept, but I am not an expert. Take my advice with the proper amount of salt.
Oh, and don't use direct debit, it was never implemented for your benefit as a consumer.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 26 2016, @11:12PM
It isn't just direct debits. You can challenge any debits to your account (and, technically, credits too), which includes cash withdrawals, checks and transfers. However, most banks limit their liability to the minimum, which is 30 days after the statement date. I've successfully challenged all sorts of charges.
My favorite was a company that overcharged me and I bounced around on the phone for an hour, so I told the guy to put a note that I would challenge their next with my bank. That was after he told me I'd have to call back the next day at 8 AM to jump through even more hoops with a different department to get it straightened out. So, I hung up, called my bank and challenged it. Next day, the billing department calls me. I told them I was busy and they'd have to call me back between the hours of 1 and 4. Called me back at 12:30, so I told them they were early and put the phone next to the radio for 35 minutes. The person, somewhat exasperated wanted to work out a deal I didn't like, so I said no dice and hung up. Never did see the charge on my bank statement nor hear from them again.