Threads app's meteoric rise has intrigued the internet, with millions signing up in mere hours. Yet, beneath its user-friendly facade, lurk dark design patterns that compel user actions. Discover the hidden tactics that keep you engaged and contribute to Meta's data empire.

noyb filed three complaints against Fitbit in Austria, the Netherlands and in Italy. The popular health and fitness company, acquired by Google in 2021, forces new users of its app to consent to data transfers outside the EU

Critical designer, researcher and award-winning artist Caroline Sinders has created a playful website to show how companies deliberately make it difficult to unsubscribe from their services. She conducted her experiment on 16 well-known online services (Amazon, Google, Netflix and the New York Times). A total of 20 different dark patterns were identified across all the applications tested, with impressive consequences: $330 lost and almost 1 hour spent trying to unsubscribe.

The DITP's Behavioral Sciences department is working with the CNIL to objectivize the impact of the design of cookie banners, the pop-ups that appear when a site is accessed. The challenge: to ensure that citizens' free will is respected, and that regulations on personal data protection are effective. To shed light on the effects of dark patterns on users, studies are based on behavioral sciences. A study involving over 4,000 people was carried out on cookie banners, and the results of this experiment "confirm the considerable impact of banner design on the choices made by Internet users".