CPRA Law + Tech Series: “Dark Patterns” and Manipulative Design

FREE March 11, 2022 @ 3:00pm - 4:15 pm ET (12:00pm - 1:15pm PT)

Overview

CPRA Law + Tech Series: Understanding Data, Decisionmaking, and Design

Session 4: “Dark Patterns” and Manipulative Design

Co-Hosted by: California Lawyers Association Privacy Law Section and the Future of Privacy Forum

About the Series: What do privacy lawyers need to know about the technologies and data practices at the heart of emerging legislation? New state privacy laws, including the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), will introduce a host of new obligations for businesses. Privacy lawyers charged with operationalizing these requirements will need to understand the technologies that these laws address. 

In this Winter 2022 series, the California Lawyers Association Privacy Law Section and FPF will host informational sessions on technological basics for privacy lawyers. Each session will provide a brief summary of new requirements under the CPRA, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), and the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), accompanied by an exploration of the key technologies that are addressed in these laws, including digital advertising, global opt-outs, automated decisionmaking, and dark patterns. 

About Session 4: Join us on Friday, March 11th, from 12:00-1:15PM Pacific Time, for an informational presentation on “dark patterns,” or the impact of manipulative design choices on data privacy.

At the heart of many privacy conversations about user choice and consent is the issue of so-called “dark patterns,” or the ways in which the design of websites, apps, and consent flows, can influence the choices people make with respect to their personal information. Increasingly, concerns about unfair design are leading lawmakers in California, Colorado, and elsewhere to prohibit manipulative design in certain contexts. 

This session will provide an overview of provisions in emerging privacy legislation, discuss concrete examples of what constitutes a “dark pattern” and design elements that influence user decisions, and explore the ways in which the CPRA and other proposals may add to existing protections under the FTC Act and other laws.

  • Dr. Jennifer King, Privacy and Data Policy Fellow, Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence

Watch the Recording | Download the Slides

Speakers

Dr. Jennifer King

Privacy and Data Policy Fellow, Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Jennifer King is the Privacy and Data Policy Fellow at the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. An information scientist by training, Dr. King is a recognized expert and scholar in information privacy. Sitting at the intersection of human-computer interaction, law, and the social sciences, her research examines the public’s understanding and expectations of online privacy as well as the policy implications of emerging technologies. Most recently, her research explored alternatives to notice and consent (with the World Economic Forum), the impact of California’s new privacy laws, and dark patterns. Her past work includes projects focusing on social media, genetic privacy, mobile application platforms, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital surveillance. Her scholarship has been recognized for its impact on policymaking by the Future of Privacy Forum, and she has been an invited speaker before the Federal Trade Commission at several Commission workshops. She has been featured in numerous publications and outlets, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles TimesWired, Recode, National Public Radio, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNET, Vox, Consumer Reports, NBC News, MIT Technology Review, among others.

Dr. King completed her doctorate in Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information. Prior to joining HAI, Dr. King was the Director of Consumer Privacy at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law school from 2018 to 2020. Before coming to Stanford, she was a co-director of the Center for Technology, Society, and Policy, a graduate student led research center at UC Berkeley, and was a privacy researcher at the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic at Berkeley Law. She was a member of the California State Advisory Board on Mobile Privacy Policies and the California State RFID Advisory Board. She received her Master’s in Information Management and Systems also from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Information, and her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to entering academia she worked in security and in product management for several Internet companies, most notably Yahoo!.