User interface tricks that can fool you into handing over your personal information have become the target of new bipartisan legislation.
On Wednesday, US senators Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) announced a bill to crack down on deceptive website practices from the biggest technology companies.
You've probably encountered the shady design tricks. For instance, a website might ask for an email address only to send you spam. The other common tactic is to push you to agreeing with the default privacy option — which will let the site harvest your personal information to serve ads.
Ever run into a bunch of contradictory checkboxes that try to trick you into signing up for someone's email list? That's a dark pattern. pic.twitter.com/7UoR2h0xKc — Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) April 9, 2019
Similar tricks can also be used keep you locked into a product. For example, a site might force you to go through numerous forms or pages to unsubscribe from its newsletter or cancel your membership.
The user interface tricks, also known as "dark patterns," have been a problem for years. But now Warner and Fischer want to effectively ban their use across the mainstream tech industry.
"These manipulative user interfaces intentionally limit understanding and undermine consumer choice," said Senator Fischer in a statement. "Misleading prompts to just click the 'OK' button can often transfer your contacts, messages, browsing activity, photos, or location information without you even realizing it."
To fix the problem, the legislation proposes creating a new standards body under the Federal Trade Commission that'll work with the major internet platforms to enact the best practices around user interface design. Platforms that have over 100 million monthly active users would all fall under its guidance.
The same legislation would also ban platforms from conducting behavioral experiments on users, unless they've received consent. In addition, the internet sites would need to steer clear of creating user design interfaces that can create "compulsive usage" among children under the age of 13.
"Our goal is simple: to instill a little transparency in what remains a very opaque market and ensure that consumers are able to make more informed choices about how and when to share their personal information," Senator Warner said in a statement.
Whether the bipartisan bill has any chance of becoming law is another matter. But the legislation already has some support within the tech industry. "We support Senators Warner and Fischer in protecting people from exploitive and deceptive practices online," said Microsoft vice president Fred Humphries in a statement. "Their legislation helps to achieve that goal and we look forward to working with them."