Hidden information, captured attention, or feeling pressured to buy a product quickly – all these are hurdles we encounter on the internet on a daily basis and they are there on purpose: Cookie banners display big green buttons for you to agree to the transfer of all data. However, if we want to protect our privacy, we first have to look for the corresponding button to do so. On booking platforms, the ads of soon-to-be-sold-out offers urge us to make a quick purchase, and social networks make it hard for us to put our phones down when we are constantly shown new posts and information. It's the result of manipulative design, known as "dark patterns." It can cost us time or put us in a bad mood, affecting our freedom of choice in the digital space.

If you're interested in learning more about these dark patterns and what strategies you can use to deal with them, you'll be able to find out in Dresden in November: On November 14 and 17, the DESIGNATE project, based at TU Dresden's TU Disruption and Societal Change Center (TUDiSC), invites to the “Dark Patterns – Manipulative Design on the internet?!“ workshop, which will be held in German.

"Providers can substantially determine what information users see, how they see it, which selection options they have, or what their attention is directed towards via the design of the system architecture and the interface design of websites, computer programs or cell phone applications. Therefore, it is all the more important for each and every one of us to apply effective strategies against 'dark patterns' that interfere with our freedom of choice in order to avoid being manipulated," says Anne Lauber-Rönsberg, Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property, Media and Data Protection Law at TU Dresden and one of the project leaders of DESIGNATE.

During the workshops, the DESIGNATE researchers will provide information from both a legal and a psychological point of view on the appearances, the effects and the regulation of dark patterns. Subsequently, the workshop participants will collectively develop strategies to deal with dark patterns and to protect ourselves against them. The aim is to jointly devise solutions to a problem that affects us all.

The workshop will be held twice: On November 14 from 5 to 7 pm in the SLUB Makerspace and on November 17 from 6 to 8 pm in the COSMO Science Forum in the Kulturpalast. Registration via: https://tud.link/gnj4 

The event is part of the action week on Internet Policy and Democracy of the Saxon State Center for Civic Education.

More detailed information at: https://netzpolitische-bildung.de/programm-2023 

Contact:
Deborah Löschner, M.sc.  
Chair of Engineering Psychology and Applied Cognitive Research 
 
Helena Kowalewska Jahromi, LL.M.  
Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property, Media and Data Protection Law