Consumer ministers mobilize against dark patterns and targeted advertising

More far-reaching regulation of so-called dark patterns and personalized advertising with tracking and microtargeting is overdue. This is emphasized by the consumer protection ministers of the federal states in the resolutions of their 21st conference, which took place in Berlin on Friday. They are therefore asking the federal government to work at EU level to "consistently and sustainably implement" the ban on manipulative or addictive designs from the Digital Services Act (DSA). The existing protection of consumers from online design tricks such as "dark patterns" is also not yet sufficient.

The conference is particularly critical of the fact that "all major operators of online marketplaces and social networks use design elements such as Hyper Engaging Dark Patterns (HEDP) on a large scale". These use psychological mechanisms such as reward, fear of loss and social pressure. They create a real pull for consumers, especially children and young people. This makes them particularly dangerous.

According to the ministers, the Digital Fairness Act planned by the EU Commission offers the opportunity to better protect online users from digital manipulative designs. For example, HEDP and similar technologies could be banned throughout the EU and requirements for digital due diligence could be introduced ("fairness by design and by default").

Prohibit advertising targeting if necessary

The conference also calls on the government to advocate for effective protection and better control of personalized advertising online at EU level. The DSA has so far only covered minors. "Additional user-related restrictions that could have the character of a ban in justified individual cases" should be examined. The consent management regulation that recently came into force also offers "no sufficient and definitive regulation to solve a consumer-friendly approach" to cookie banners.

The conference also urges that consumers be better protected against "fake stores" and opaque financial offers on the internet, that influencer marketing and social commerce be regulated and that scoring for credit ratings, for example by Schufa, be made even more consumer-friendly. Petra Berg, Saarland's Minister of Consumer Protection, emphasized that protection against the processing of personal data for AI training purposes by Meta & Co. without the explicit prior consent of those affected must also be increased.

(wpl)