How The Internet Tricks You Out Of Privacy Using ‘Dark Patterns’

Apparently, there are several tricks the internet uses to get us to give up our privacy. There are plenty of “dark patterns” that can trick us into handing over our data.

Deceptive designs nudge, trick, and goad you into sharing more than you might intend to online, Professor Woodrow Hartzog argues in his new book, Privacy’s Blueprint: The Battle to Control the Design of New Technologies.

And when you think you’re in control of your own data, you rarely are.

“If you want to know when social media companies are trying to manipulate you into disclosing information or engaging more, the answer is always,” he said.  According to ABC, for companies like Google, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook, which make the majority of their income from advertising, more action equals more data. All the better to understand you and sell that understanding to brands.