Has your child ever signed up to a ‘free trial’ for you to later find that they (or you) have been charged for a subscription? Have they been manipulated into sharing their own or their friends’ personal information as a condition of playing a game or using a service? The online sphere is full of these ‘sneaky tricks’, often alternatively referred to as ‘dark patterns’, deceptive patterns, deceptive design, persuasive design, harmful design and nudge techniques. Such dark patterns are designed to manipulate individuals (adults as well as children) into doing things they don’t mean to, like buying or signing up for things.
Children’s greater vulnerability to online harms is explicitly recognised in the US by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and in the UK by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Online Safety Act 2023. In both countries, parents play a key role as gatekeepers, protecting children’s online privacy when young children wish to engage with the online sphere. However, little is known about parents understanding of how dark patterns impact on children or about the actions parents take to address the potential harms dark patterns pose. In our research, we asked parents in the United Kingdom and in the United States whether they were aware of their children’s exposure to dark patterns, whether they believe it is their responsibility to protect their children from dark patterns, and if so, what steps they take to protect their children from dark design.