Privacy maze
Advertising opt-out split across unrelated menus
A fictional service places audience ads, partner sharing and measurement controls under three differently named menus with no summary of the final state.
Individual HTML example · Obstruction
Privacy choice silently re-enables elsewhere
A fictional account lets users disable activity sharing on the web, but opening the mobile app silently restores the setting under a different label.
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real company and is not a legal finding or safe harbour.
Privacy choice silently re-enables elsewhere
A fictional account lets users disable activity sharing on the web, but opening the mobile app silently restores the setting under a different label.
Personalised activity · Off. The mobile app later restores the same sharing under “Smart recommendations”.. Setting may change. Unconfirmed state: Setting may change
Activity sharing · Off everywhere. Web and app show the same persisted state and audit date.. Keep off across devices. Saved state: Keep off across devices. Persisted account state, expanded: The saved state behind “Keep off across devices” remains consistent after refresh and across supported channels.
Why the first version can mislead: The route adds avoidable effort between the user’s stated intention and completion. In this connected-device account example, the obstacle is: “The mobile app later restores the same sharing under “Smart recommendations”.” Evidence should show whether the alternative remains usable and whether “Keep off across devices” reaches the represented state. The user cannot maintain a reliable privacy preference across interfaces.
What a fairer design does: Use one persistent state across channels, announce conflicts and require a deliberate choice before changing it.
Show annotated differences (2)
Potentially problematic version
- Unconfirmed state: Setting may changeIn “Privacy choice silently re-enables elsewhere”, this element shows how privacy maze can shape the decision.
Neutral alternative
- Persisted account state, expanded: The saved state behind “Keep off across devices” remains consistent after refresh and across supported channels.In “Privacy choice silently re-enables elsewhere”, this element keeps the clearer alternative visible at the same decision point.
Review questions (3)
- How many steps, waits and channel changes separate “Setting may change” from the completed connected-device account outcome?
- Test the control across refresh, device and account states; is “The route contains unnecessary branching, repeated settings or inconsistent terminology” still observable after persistence is considered?
- Measure the same task through the clearest available route: does the effort difference persist once “complexity strictly required by genuinely distinct processing purposes” is accounted for?
Complete pattern context
How this example relates to Privacy maze
Privacy controls are fragmented, inconsistently labelled or layered so that limiting collection or use is unnecessarily difficult. The label describes a recurring design mechanism; whether a particular implementation is harmful or unlawful depends on the complete journey, audience, evidence and rules within scope.
The full guide explains inclusion and exclusion criteria, harms, fair design principles, evidence questions and the relevant EU legal information layers. The example page isolates one scenario so it can be shared and discussed without reproducing the complete library on one page.
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Related examples
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Account deletion obstruction
Deactivation presented as deletion
A fictional platform labels a control “Delete account”, but the confirmation only hides the profile and leaves data and reactivation available indefinitely.
Account deletion obstruction
Deletion buried behind an unsupported ticket
A fictional retailer places account deletion behind six help pages and requires a support ticket containing an order number even for users who never ordered.
Sources and provenance for this example
Evidence base
Sources
- An Ontology of Dark Patterns KnowledgeGray et al.; ACM CHI 2024 · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · DOI 10.1145/3613904.3642436; arXiv:2309.09640
- Behavioural study on unfair commercial practices in the digital environmentEuropean Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · DOI 10.2838/859030; ISBN 978-92-76-52316-1
- Unfair Commercial Practices DirectiveEuropean Parliament and Council of the European Union · Primary · checked 2026-08-09 · Directive 2005/29/EC; CELEX 02005L0029-20220528