Deftly inducing subscriptions and payments...Korea Communications Commission warns of 'dark patterns'

The government has asked people to pay attention to the so-called "dark pattern" of eye trickery that induces unintended online payments.

Today (22nd), the Korea Communications Commission published a 'Dark Pattern Casebook for the Protection of Digital Service Users'.

The KCC said that the "dark pattern" aimed at deceiving users is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and that major damage cases were included in each of the "subscription-type services," "advertising" and "data collection fields."

Representative examples include acts that interfere with the path of subscription termination, hiding important information that violates user autonomy, and inducing unwanted advertisements and notifications.

The Korea Communications Commission stressed that corrective orders or fines can be imposed if users are concerned about damage, such as missing explanations on important matters related to payment.