Dark patterns

Whenever an action is made complicated for the user to find or to carry out, there is a good chance you are facing a dark pattern. Navigation should always be smooth, and the user must be the one making all the choices, without constraint and without influence.

Some are. Article 25 of the European Digital Services Act (DSA) prohibits deceptive interfaces. It has applied to very large platforms since August 2023, then to all digital services since 17 February 2024. The GDPR also regulates how consent is obtained, and in France the CNIL has already sanctioned manipulative cookie banners. In December 2025, the European Commission imposed its first fine under the DSA, 120 million euros, in part for deceptive design. Penalties can reach 6% of worldwide annual revenue.

You come across them everywhere, and nearly all of them have a name. The roach motel (easy sign-up, laborious unsubscription), confirmshaming (the refusal option written to induce guilt, such as « No thanks, I don't want to save money »), sneak into basket (paid options automatically added to the basket), bait and switch (promising one thing and delivering another), or cookie banners designed to push consent by default. They all turn the conventions of design against the user instead of serving them. The CNIL and the European DSA regulation now regulate several of these traps.