Create a Crowdsourced Reporting Tool
A reporting platform to make Deceptive Design more identifiable, reportable, and trackable for users and regulators.
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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.
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
Crowdsourced Reporting Tool: Regulators and Researchers Experience
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.
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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.
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