Centre to launch software to detect dark patterns used by firms on web

The Union government will launch the world’s first software to detect dark patterns on the Internet, which are tricks tech companies use to get users to click features that benefit the company, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. Union government to launch a software to detect dark patterns on the internet, says consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh. The ministry has identified over 10 such dark patterns commonly used by websites that constitute “malpractices” and “unfair trade practices in contravention of section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019”, the head of the Central Consumer Protection Authority Nidhi Khare said. “The app and software to detect such dark patterns will be a public good,” said Prof NS Rajput of the electronics and computer engineering centre of the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi.