USA - State

Settlement with phone giants

On May 9, 2024, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced three multistate settlements totaling $10.25 million with the largest wireless carriers in the United States, resolving investigations into deceptive advertising practices. The settlements require carriers to ensure truthful advertising, clearly disclose restrictions and terms for "unlimited" data plans and "free" services, justify cost-saving claims, appoint a dedicated consumer complaint handler, and train customer service to comply with the agreements' terms.

USA - State

New Jersey Data Privacy Act

New Jersey has enacted Bill 332, becoming the 14th state to have a comprehensive state privacy law. The law, effective from January 2025, applies to controllers conducting business in New Jersey or targeting New Jersey residents. It includes obligations for controllers such as data minimization, privacy notice requirements (including a reasonably accessible, clear, and meaningful privacy notice), obtaining consumer consent for sensitive data, and implementing data security practices. The law also introduces a universal opt-out mechanism for targeted advertising or data "sale" and standard consumer rights.

USA - State

NY Buy Now Pay Later Bill

The New York governor proposed a Buy Now Pay Later legislation, introducing a licensing requirement, limiting charges, and requiring an ability-to-repay analysis for BNPL products. The legislation also prohibits confessions of judgment, misleading advertisements, and excessive penalties or fees. It mandates clear disclosure of terms, costs, and the refund process for goods or services purchased with a BNPL loan.

USA - State

Maryland Kids Code

Maryland's legislature is considering a bill, the Maryland Kids Code, that would prohibit companies from spying on minors and using their data for targeted ads or online manipulation. It mandates privacy by design and default for online products and services accessed by children and teens under 18. If passed, companies would be prohibited from profiling children for personalized ads and would be required to enable the highest privacy settings by default. The bill also defines and prohibits the use of dark patterns and other unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices.

USA - State

Illinois Privacy Rights Act

The Illinois House of Representatives is considering a new privacy law prohibiting dark patterns. The law defines consent as a clear, freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous act, and explicitly states that consent does not include agreements obtained through dark patterns or deceptive design patterns. Dark patterns are defined as UI designs that substantially subvert or impair user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.

India

Indian Consumer Protection Agency controlling “quick commerce” company claims

The Indian Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is requiring “quick commerce” companies to provide evidence for their claims of delivering orders within "10 minutes or less." This affects companies like Blinkit, Swiggy, Instamart, Zepto, and Big Basket. The companies are required to share their median delivery times in major cities and, if they can't substantiate their claims, they must modify their advertisements to be accurate.

EU

EDPB Opinion on ‘Pay or Okay’ consent model

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued an opinion on the "Pay or Okay" subscription model by Instagram and Facebook, emphasizing that personal data should not be a tradable commodity. The EDPB criticized the binary choice of the model and recommended an 'equivalent alternative' for users, such as a free account with less or no personal data processing for advertising. The EDPB stated that existing'pay or ok' models could only be valid if they comply with all requirements for consent, including free consent, clear information, and avoidance of dark patterns. The board concluded that most large online platforms would not be able to comply with these requirements.

Innovating Legal Design: A Human-Centric Approach

Minsuk Chang, John Joon Young Chung, Katy Ilonka Gero, Ting-Hao Kenneth Huang, Dongyeop Kang and Vipul Raheja

Dark Sides: Envisioning, Understanding, and Preventing Harmful Effects of Writing Assistants – The Third Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants

In an interdisciplinary workshop, experts convene to explore the challenges and potential dark sides of intelligent writing assistants, fueled by the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. Building on the success of previous initiatives like the CHI23 workshop (The Second In2Writing Workshop), the gathering aims to engage diverse voices in the writing tools research community. Participants, including writers, educators, researchers, industry professionals, students, and enthusiasts, collaborate to understand and mitigate the risks associated with the widespread adoption of writing assistant technologies.

Katie Seaborn, Tatsuya Itagaki, Mizuki Watanabe, Yijia Wang, Ping Geng, Takao Fujii, Yuto Mandai and Miu Kojima

Deceptive, Disruptive, No Big Deal: Japanese People React to Simulated Dark Commercial Patterns

In a pioneering study, researchers investigate the prevalence and impact of dark patterns and deceptive designs (DPs) in Japanese online shopping interfaces. Through a user study involving 30 participants, they identify Alphabet Soup and Misleading Reference Pricing as the most deceptive, while Social Proofs, Sneaking in Items, and Untranslation are less deceptive but still impactful. The study highlights the need for further research and collaboration with industry to address the influence of DPs on user behavior.

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USA - State

Settlement with phone giants

USA - State

New Jersey Data Privacy Act

USA - State

NY Buy Now Pay Later Bill

USA - State

Maryland Kids Code

USA - State

Illinois Privacy Rights Act

India

Indian Consumer Protection Agency controlling “quick commerce” company claims

EU

EDPB Opinion on ‘Pay or Okay’ consent model

Innovating Legal Design: A Human-Centric Approach

Minsuk Chang, John Joon Young Chung, Katy Ilonka Gero, Ting-Hao Kenneth Huang, Dongyeop Kang and Vipul Raheja

Dark Sides: Envisioning, Understanding, and Preventing Harmful Effects of Writing Assistants – The Third Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants

Katie Seaborn, Tatsuya Itagaki, Mizuki Watanabe, Yijia Wang, Ping Geng, Takao Fujii, Yuto Mandai and Miu Kojima

Deceptive, Disruptive, No Big Deal: Japanese People React to Simulated Dark Commercial Patterns

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