The FTC has assessed Fortnite maker Epic a total of $520 million in penalties, roughly divided between COPPA violations and the use of dark patterns to trick players into making in-game purchases.
How can well-intentioned companies avoid employing dark patterns by mistake? And how can privacy professionals, particularly attorneys, effectively counsel their clients away from this common, yet all too prevalent, practice?
A change to California's state privacy law is the first regulation to directly take on dark patterns, threatening civil penalties brought under the state's existing unfair competition laws.