Watchdogs find deceptive privacy practices across majority of websites, apps studied

Deceptive design practices – meant to influence the privacy decisions of users online – are rampant across many websites and mobile apps, particularly those meant for children, according to reports from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and other global privacy officials. The recently released findings stem from a global sweep of 899 websites and 111 apps, conducted by the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN) and the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2. Canada’s privacy watchdog led the sweep, with the participation of 25 other privacy enforcement agencies and 27 consumer protection agencies from around the world, including Canada’s Competition Bureau. Each agency focused their sweep on popular websites across various industries and sectors including banking and financial services, retail, news, gaming, entertainment, social media, travel, children, and government. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada examined 145 of the 1,010 platforms swept, 67 of which were aimed toward children. According to the GPEN report, the sweep found that 97 per cent of all surveyed sites and apps were using at least one deceptive design practice, manipulating users into divulging more of their personal information than necessary. Complex and confusing language was the most common practice found, appearing in 89 per cent of all platforms’ privacy policies, while 55 per cent had excessively long policies over 3,000 words long. The way an app or website is presented plays a significant role in users’ understanding of their privacy options. Through certain design elements known as “interface interference,” users’ abilities to make choices reflecting their own privacy preferences can be suppressed. Such elements were found on 43 per cent of platforms, on average. The sweep looked at three types of interference: a “false hierarchy,” which emphasizes certain choices and obscures others; “preselection,” which sets the most privacy-intrusive option as the default; and “confirm-shaming,” which uses emotionally charged language to influence users. Privacy officials also encountered “nagging” from 14 per cent of platforms on average, repeatedly annoying users into taking specific actions they would not normally take, such as creating an account, providing an email address, or downloading an app. As for sites that allow people to create accounts, 35 per cent of them repeatedly asked users to reconsider their choice when attempting to delete their accounts. Efforts to obstruct certain actions such as finding privacy settings or deleting accounts were found on 39 per cent of platforms, while “forced actions” that required users to provide more personal information to delete their account than when they first opened it appeared on nine per cent of websites and apps. Children's platforms are particularly rife with the deceptive practices, stated the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which examined 67 sites and apps targeted toward children. “Unfortunately, the OPC found deceptive patterns to be just as frequent, and at times even more frequent, on children’s websites and apps,” states the privacy commissioner’s report. The Canadian sweepers found that these platforms used certain practices, particularly interface interference tactics, even more than platforms geared toward the general population. The use of emotionally charged language to dissuade users from deleting their accounts appeared on 54 per cent of the children’s sites reviewed, compared to 29 per cent globally. Similarly, sweepers encountered nagging tactics on 45 per cent of children’s sites, more than triple the global average. “With children spending more and more of their lives online, it is critical that the spaces that they visit are safe, especially those targeted directly at them either deliberately or by their very nature,” said privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne in a news release. Dufresne emphasized the need for industry reform, calling on organizations and businesses to integrate “privacy by design and privacy by default.” “Organizations should put the best interests of young people first when designing websites and apps. This includes limiting the collection of young people’s personal information, clearly explaining privacy information, making privacy protective settings the default, and empowering young people and their parents or guardians to make informed privacy protections choices.” – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

Watchdogs find deceptive privacy practices across majority of websites, apps studied

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
| July 10, 2024

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
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