Context :
Circa 2000 BC :
Battle of Mahabharat , between Pandavas and Kauravas , was about
conquering an enemy, to gain control of land
Kauravas configured their army in the form of a “ Chakra-vyuha “
Pandav warrior Abhimanyu had learned the art of “ Entering / penetrating
“ a “ Chakra-vyuha “
Unfortunately, he had not mastered the art of “ Exiting / Getting out “
from a “ Chakra-vyuha “
He got killed by the Kaurava warriors
Circa July 2023 :
Govt
Urges Online Platforms To Refrain From Adopting Dark Patterns Harming Consumer
Interest
Extract :
The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of
India has urged
online platforms to
refrain from incorporating any design or pattern in the online interface
of their platform that may deceive or manipulate consumer
choice and fall in the category of dark patterns.
In a letter addressed to major online platforms in
India, Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs has
strongly advised online platform
to not engage in ‘unfair trade practices’ by incorporating dark patterns in
their online interface to manipulate consumer choice and violate ‘consumer
rights’ as enshrined under Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
It is pertinent to note that dark
patterns involve using a design and choice architecture to trick, coerce or influence
consumers to make choices not in their best interest.
Engaging in such deceptive and manipulative conduct by using dark patterns in online
interfaces unfairly exploits consumers’ interest and constitutes ‘unfair trade practice’ under the Consumer Protection
Act, 2019.
Recently, regulators in other jurisdictions such as
European Union, USA and UK have taken action against dark patterns involving
unfair and deceptive
practices in online interfaces which were found to be detrimental to
consumers.
The activities which the platforms were observed to
be indulging include:-
- Non-consensual enrolment in subscription programs (USA)
- Pressure selling using misleading countdown clock (UK)
- Secretly saving credit card
information and charging users without consent (USA)
- Putting in place a cancellation process designed to deter
consumers from opting out of subscription (Norway).
Some examples of Dark Patterns are:
- False
Urgency:
This
tactic creates a sense of urgency or scarcity to pressure consumers into making
a purchase or taking an action.
- Basket
Sneaking:
Websites
or apps use dark patterns to add additional products or services to the
shopping cart without user consent.
- Subscription
Traps:
This
tactic makes it easy for consumers to sign up for a service but difficult for
them to cancel it, often by hiding the cancellation option or requiring
multiple steps.
- Confirm
Shaming: I
It
involves guilt as a way to make consumers adhere. It criticizes or attack
consumers for not conforming to a particular belief or viewpoint.
- Forced
Action:
This
involves forcing consumers into taking an action they may not want to take,
such as signing up for a service in order to access content.
- Nagging:
It
refers to persistent, repetitive and annoyingly constant criticism, complaints,
requests for action.
- Interface
Interference:
This
tactic involves making it difficult for consumers to take certain actions, such
as canceling a subscription or deleting an account.
- Bait
and Switch:
This
involves advertising one product or service but delivering another, often of
lower quality.
- Hidden
Costs:
This
tactic involves hiding additional costs from consumers until they are already
committed to making a purchase.
- Disguised
Ads:
Disguised
ads are advertisements that are designed to look like other types of content,
such as news articles or user-generated content.
Circa Aug 2018 :
Ø Future
of Advertising ………………… 30 Aug 2018
Extract :
Two days back ,I sent following e mail
to Shri Rajan Anandan of Google
[ 'ranandan@google.com' / 'rajan@google.com' / @RajanAnandan ]
Dear Rajan,
Does following
appear doable ?
Google Ads - Coming
Soon to Billboard Near You ? https://lnkd.in/fQn8w46
But Ads , either on
our TV screens or on a Billboard, are STATIC
It is only a matter of
time before Google starts displaying on the sides of city transport buses , DYNAMIC and CONTEXTUAL advts !
This concept has
immense possibilities in a country like India where thousands of pedestrians are all the time walking on roads
Say , a
spectacle-wearing pedestrian is standing on the footpath , in front of a shop
of SUNAYAN OPTICIANS
and sees a BEST bus approaching .
He had visited an eye
doctor in the morning ( record on Mobile )
Lo and behold ! He
sees on the side of the bus , an ADVT from SUNAYAN OPTICIANS , saying : FREE eye check up for the next 15 minutes !
That advt turns into
an ad from AJANTA CHEMIST ( located 50 feet away down the road ) , where a pedestrian has a mobile
in his hand , using which , he had ordered PENTOCID tablets in the morning
To his amazement , he
notices that the Google Ad
urges him to buy ANTACID tablets at 20 % discount - of course, from AJANTA CHEMIST !
But this required both
those guys to be “ watching “ those ads on the sides of a moving bus
Now , if you are
wondering :
How Google will manage to deliver Ads to you if you are sleeping with
your eyes closed , no need to wonder
Google is developing
devices ( Smart phones / Smart watches / Wrist bands / Google Assistant and
even contact lenses with Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality / Brain Computer
Interfaces and a hundred other IoT devices surrounding you 24x7 ) , all of which will “ deliver
“ those Ads to your brain where
these Ads will appear like “ Dreams
“ !
Who knows , these “ dreams “ might one day , even deliver “
solutions “ to your problems ( no need to “ search “ for solutions in Google Search bar !
Millions may not care what Google
knows about them ( - and how it got to know all about them ) , if Google can
make their lives “ less miserable / less struggle / more convenient / more
comfortable / more happy “
For them , it could well be
: Privacy ko maro Goli
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.hemenparekh.ai / 01
July 2023
Ad Sharp Eco-System.... 8 Nov 2011
===========================================================================
Added on 18 July 2023 :
Norway regulator to fine Meta over privacy breaches
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms will be fined one million crowns ($100,000) per day over privacy breaches unless it takes remedial action, Norway’s data protection authority said on Monday, in a move that could have wider European implications.
Regulator Datatilsynet said it would charge the fine every day from Aug. 4 until Nov. 3 unless Meta takes action.
It said Meta cannot harvest user data in Norway, such as users’ physical locations, and use it to target advertising at them, called behavioural advertising, a business model common to Big Tech.
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