Create a Crowdsourced Reporting Tool

A reporting platform to make Deceptive Design more identifiable, reportable, and trackable for users and regulators.

Problem

There is a lack of visibility regarding the harms associated with Deceptive Design. People on the web do not have a robust enough awareness to identify it, nor a pathway to report it. As a result, policy-makers and regulators lack sufficient evidence to better understand, illustrate, and respond to issues of Deceptive Design.

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Solution

A crowdsourced reporting tool that streamlines Deceptive Design detection through public institution participation is essential for illuminating Deceptive Design and fostering a shared understanding of its harms. The Dark Patterns Tip Line's reported instances of “dark patterns” could serve as a base for generating data visualizations to reveal where Deceptive Design patterns are occurring the most and help raise awareness.

Crowdsourced Reporting Tool: Web Users and Reporters Experience

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Crowdsourced Reporting Tool: Regulators and Researchers Experience

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The following stakeholders could play important and distinct roles in the utilization and scaling of the tool:

A core group of credible partner institutions, to respond to reported instances of Deceptive Design by following through with mechanisms for enforcement and action.
A group of active product designers and people on the web, to identify and report Deceptive Design patterns.
Journalists and advocates, to spread awareness through utilizing and citing the tool.
Technology platforms may take inspiration and provide tools for users to report Deceptive Design.

A more detailed strategy for the development and expansion of this tool was devised in the following roadmap.

Impact

Collective reporting can increase the detection of Deceptive Design and make issues more visible to policymakers and regulators. An easy-to-use reporting process can make venues for action visible for people on the web and eventually lead to pathways for resolution.