The article, written by Manja Skočir, analyses the phenomenon of digital gimmicks and dark patterns as one of the key ways in which modern technologies exploit users’ cognitive vulnerabilities. The theoretical framework of behavioural economics – in particular, the gimmick theory and the concept of choice architecture – allows us to explain the mechanisms of influence built into digital technologies and to normatively assess their permissibility.
Since humans often make decisions quickly, intuitively and biasedly, we are particularly susceptible to subtle interventions in the context of decision-making. In the digital environment, these interventions are strengthened by the properties of technological infrastructure (constant presence, data analytics, personalization), which leads to the emergence of generic, personalized and adaptive gimmicks, which in their extreme form spill over into dark patterns – deliberately designed interfaces that mislead users and direct them into behaviors against their interests.
Normative analysis shows that the classic objections to analogue nudges (threat to autonomy, restriction of freedom of choice, manipulativeness, non-transparency) are exacerbated in the digital environment. Legally, the EU framework only establishes protection against dark patterns (GDPR, Unfair Practices Directive, DSA, AI Act), while digital nudges, as more subtle forms of influence, remain in the grey zone between permissible persuasion and prohibited manipulation.
Full article
Full article in available here: Digitalni dregljaji in temni vzorci
