GREENWASHING AND “DARK Habits”
In the near future, CCCS has plans to work on misleading and “dark trends” to enhance consumer protection.
When a company deceives customers into thinking their products or procedures have better economic gains than they actually do, it is called “greenwashing.” Last year, for example, electronics store PRISM came under fire for an advertising say that using its air conditioning was the “best idea” to” keep Earth”.
Mr. Koh remarked that it is challenging to implement advertising standards against misleading unless they can be harmonised worldwide because Singapore goods the majority of what it consumes.
However, he claimed that the payment is working on a set of instructions to “help businesses generate accurate and truthful statements about their products.” These are likely to be available for public conversation later this year.
” We hope that these rules will give these companies more precision and assurance in making natural says,” he said.
Next time, “dark trends” on e-commerce sites will also be an area of focus for CCCS ‘ fresh policy system.
User interfaces that deceive users into doing things they otherwise would n’t want to do are known as dark patterns, also known as deceptive patterns.
Hidden fees, automated attendance in paid membership after a complimentary trial, making it difficult to cancel memberships, and disguised advertisements are some examples of these techniques.
The term was coined in 2010 by UK-based user experience designer Dr Harry Brignull. Since then, officials in the UK, the United States, and the European Union have been increasingly monitoring black designs.
Mr. Koh compared this to a gymnasium account that can only be terminated by visiting the location during business hours and speaking with team members who will negotiate with the customer to persuade them to continue using the account.
” It should n’t be like that”, he said. It’s all a part of a general pattern of behavior, which allows people to create their blogs to entice visitors.
Black designs may not be illegal in Singapore, but they may be unfair. CCCS wants to help consumers become more discerning in the e-commerce industry, he continued.
” You should n’t be going around the internet feeling like you have to be ultra-attentive, otherwise you might end up paying for something that you did n’t want”.