The Racism and Technology Center co-signed an open letter asking the EU member states to make sure that the upcoming Digital Services Act will abolish so-called ‘dark patterns’ and advertising that is based on tracking and harvesting personal data.
The current advertising practices allows for “the manipulation of the public debate, discrimination, and the amplification of harmful content.” Furthermore, …
… tracking-based advertising allows the exploitation of people’s vulnerabilities, perpetuating already existing biases and marginalisation, and can lead to the exclusion of certain groups of people, such as women and older people when it comes to [for example] job ads.
Tracking-based advertising also enables the exclusion of Black people as we know. It is long overdue that regulation puts an end to these practices.
See: Open Letter: Abolish manipulative dark patterns and creepy online ads, ask 72 civil society organisations at European Digital Rights (EDRi).
Image by European Digital Rights (EDRi).