Have you ever found it impossible to find the “unsubscribe” button? Maybe you’ve accidentally opted into “accepting all cookies?” Then you may have fallen for a "dark pattern."

Dark patterns are at the heart of a lawsuit between Amazon and the federal government. The FTC claims Amazon used dark patterns to trick millions of users into subscribing to Prime without meaning to. And the complaint says Amazon created a long, difficult process full of roadblocks that stopped Prime members from unsubscribing.

The trial kicked off in Seattle this week, and the outcome could change how companies sell us stuff online.

Today, what are dark patterns? And how could a crack down on them change how we experience the internet? 

Guest:
Harry Brignull, a user experience designer and psychologist in the UK. Founder of the Deceptive Patterns Initiative, a nonprofit advocating against deceptive design.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes. 

Coming up: Has there been a moment when you have encountered something that you're pretty sure was written by AI in a place that you didn't expect? If so, we want to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail with your experience -- it could be featured on an upcoming episode. You can also email us at [email protected].

Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.

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