EDPB Proposes Guidance On Dark Patterns In Social Media

U.S. warns about possible Russian cyber attacks; Australia may propose online harms legislation

The Wavelength is moving! This week, you’ll get the same great content, but from the Ghost platform. The move will allow for a price decrease.  

And, it bears mention that content on technology policy, politics, and law that preceded the Wavelength can be found on my blog.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Years ago, a friend of mine and I were walking in Washington, DC when we saw a grand mansion likely built in the late 19th Century. And while the one-time owner was associated with a famous cult or religion depending on one’s perspective, what drew our eyes was the promise of a tour. Nonetheless, we entered and were told tours started after guests watched a short video. Well, after 45 minutes of watching a very hard sell of said cult/religion, I was no longer interested in a tour. When the film ended, I was out of my seat and heading toward the door with my friend in tow. One of the disciples opened the door and was surprised to see me already there. I was brushed past this person and started asking where the exit was, but none of the 5-7 disciples assembled to bring us into the cult/religion would answer. So, I looked around and saw an open door, and I led my friend out of the building quite without any help from people inside.

You may be asking why I’m starting today’s edition of the Wavelength with this seeming non-sequitur. The reason is that reading the European Data Protection Board’s new guidelines on dark patterns in social media under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) very much remind me of this experience in a number of ways. One can count on misdirection, deception, and hiding the ball when one wanders into social media. Recently, we decided to end one of our evergreen subscription services from a major United States (U.S.) giant, and, in contrast to the ease of signing up, one had to wander through page after page of content that was not more confusing than helpful before we found how to pull the plug on this service.