Welcome to the Fair Patterns Podcast and Blog

In this Radio Classique interview with Stéphane Pedrazzi, Marie Potel-Saville explains how dark patterns manipulate user behavior by exploiting cognitive biases, and why they remain widespread despite existing regulations. She also highlights the growing legal pressure on these practices and introduces fair patterns as a transparent and sustainable alternative that supports user autonomy while remaining economically viable.

Join Fair Patterns as a Legal Engineer Intern and work at the intersection of law, AI, and design to help detect and fix dark patterns at scale. In this role, you will contribute to auditing digital interfaces using our AI solution, support research on global digital regulations, and explore topics such as AI fairness, explainability, and governance. This is a hands-on opportunity to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team and gain experience in human-centered legal innovation while making a real impact on creating fairer digital experiences.

In this DataCamp webinar, Marie Potel-Saville and Sara Vienna discuss how AI product teams can design systems users can rely on. The conversation explores dark patterns in AI interfaces, the importance of preserving user agency, and why trustworthy AI begins with thoughtful product design.

In this episode of AI Experience, Marie Potel-Saville discusses how dark patterns have become widespread across digital products and how AI may unintentionally amplify manipulative design practices. The conversation highlights the need to move toward more transparent and user-respectful digital experiences.

In this episode of AI & Real Life, Marie Potel-Saville discusses how AI can both support and undermine critical thinking, and why designing systems that preserve human judgment is essential for responsible innovation.

As AI is increasingly used to design and personalise digital interfaces, recent research shows it introduces serious compliance risks—especially in financial services. Studies reveal that AI systems generate dark patterns by default, even when prompted with neutral business goals, due to being trained on a web saturated with manipulative designs. At the same time, AI models themselves exhibit deceptive behaviours such as sneaking, brand bias, and user retention manipulation. While these practices are already problematic in e-commerce, they become far more harmful in financial contexts, where interface nudges can influence long-term financial decisions and violate regulations like the UK’s Consumer Duty. This creates a compounded risk that requires proactive governance, human oversight, and systematic screening of AI-generated interfaces to protect users and ensure regulatory compliance.

Marie Potel-Saville, co-founder and CEO of Fair Patterns, explains how dark patterns subtly manipulate users in everyday digital interfaces and why fair design matters.

In this episode of Business & Society, Marie Potel Saville explains how subtle design choices can steer our behaviour without us realising it. She reflects on why dark patterns persist and how fair, user centred design can rebuild trust.

In this new podcast episode, Marie Potel-Saville sits down with Pierre Vannier and Thomas Meimoun to talk about dark patterns, fair design, and the importance of ethics in an AI-driven world. A practical and insightful conversation for anyone building digital products.

Marie Potel Saville, founder and CEO of FairPatterns, appeared on the Sqool TV show “L’École du Futur” to explain how dark patterns quietly influence our behaviour online, especially among young users. She highlights the scale of the problem, why manipulation persists despite regulation, and how FairPatterns works to create digital experiences that restore autonomy and trust.

FairPatterns joined France Culture to discuss how online platforms use misleading techniques, what current European regulations can and cannot address, and why more transparent, user-respectful practices are needed.

In this piece, our CEO breaks down how Black Friday relies on tactics that push people to overconsume, and why it’s time to rethink these practices for a more transparent and sustainable digital world.

Our CEO explores how platforms like SHEIN capture our attention and why protecting attentional sovereignty has become essential.

The Economist’s latest podcast explores how dark patterns shape user behavior and why fairness in design is now essential for trust and compliance. Featuring insights from our co-founder Marie Potel, the episode highlights how organizations can move from manipulative design to transparency and responsibility.

In 2025, Amazon agreed to pay $2.5 billion after using dark patterns to trap millions of users in unwanted Prime subscriptions. The case proves that manipulative design is now illegal, not just unethical, and that companies must make sign-up and cancellation equally easy. Fair and transparent design has officially become a legal requirement.

At NOW 2025, our CEO, Marie Potel-Saville, joined Kimiya Shams to discuss how organizations can act responsibly in an uncertain AI regulatory landscape. From early AI policy adoption at Devialet to the role of legal teams as navigators, the session explored how human-centered governance and value-driven action can build lasting trust in the age of AI.

We’re hiring a Plain Language Legal Engineer to join Amurabi and Fair Patterns! This unique role sits at the crossroads of law, design, and AI, helping us translate complex legal language into clear and empowering user experiences, while contributing to our fight against dark patterns worldwide. If you’re a 3–5 PQE lawyer, tech-savvy, fluent in English and French, and passionate about innovation, we’d love to hear from you at jobs@hrevolution.fr

A recent investigation into the fake boutique “Charlotte Lyon” highlights the growing problem of deceptive e-commerce practices. The site misled shoppers with emotional farewell messages, countdown timers, and claims of supporting local artisans, while actually reselling cheap fast-fashion items from platforms like Shein and Temu at inflated prices. Despite regulators shutting it down, the scheme quickly reappeared under a new domain, underscoring the persistence of such scams. France’s consumer authority has also fined Shein €40 million for misleading pricing and environmental claims, reflecting a wider global crackdown on dark patterns and deceptive design. As regulators strengthen enforcement, solutions like FairPatterns are emerging to help companies detect manipulative practices, ensure compliance, and rebuild trust through transparent, user-friendly design.

California has introduced the United States’ first regulation focused on Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT), setting new rules for systems that use personal data to make or shape decisions in areas like hiring, credit, housing, and workplace monitoring. Finalized on July 24, 2025, the law gives consumers the right to receive plain-language pre-use notices, opt out of most ADMT uses, and access details about how decisions are made. These requirements demand clear, user-friendly designs and robust human oversight, not just legal compliance. At FairPatterns, we help companies meet these standards by detecting harmful patterns, replacing them with transparent and compliant designs, and preventing future risks from the earliest design stages.

In 2024, over 3.3 billion people played video games, and growing concerns over addictive design have put the industry under legal and regulatory scrutiny. Features like loot boxes, time-limited offers, and behavioral triggers are now seen as potential exploitation, with lawsuits against Roblox and others and new rules like the EU’s Digital Fairness Act targeting these practices. FairPatterns helps companies detect and remove manipulative UX, replacing it with clear, compliant, trust-first design that protects both users and brands.

The European Commission is developing the Digital Fairness Act to close gaps in existing consumer laws and tackle manipulative digital practices like dark patterns, misleading influencer marketing, addictive design, unfair personalization, and hidden in-game costs. Set for proposal by mid 2026, the Act will strengthen protections for all users with a focus on shielding minors from exploitative features, while offering businesses clearer compliance standards. At FairPatterns, we anticipated this shift, building AI powered tools that detect harmful patterns, replace them with compliant and user friendly designs, and prevent future risks at the design stage, helping companies align with new rules and design for trust from the start.

Privacy notices are meant to protect users, but too often they bury rights in walls of legalese, tiny fonts, and broken consent tools, turning transparency into a facade. The recent enforcement action against TicketNetwork under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act exposed a 12,000-word unreadable policy, missing rights explanations, and malfunctioning opt-out buttons, resulting in an $85,000 settlement and a loss of trust. At FairPatterns, we help companies detect and fix these privacy dark patterns, replacing manipulative UX with plain language, accessible and compliant designs that work for both users and regulators, ensuring clarity, trust and sustainable growth.

Generative AI, widely adopted by designers and creatives, is transforming design workflows but also enabling new risks, such as AI-generated fake online reviews that impersonate real customers. A notable case in Singapore involved a car service company using ChatGPT to create and post fake 5-star reviews with real customer identities without consent, leading to regulatory action by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS). This case highlights broader global concerns over AI-assisted digital deception, prompting calls for stronger safeguards, ethical AI use, and enforcement to protect consumer trust, with tools like FairPatterns helping platforms detect and prevent manipulative digital practices.

This newsletter explores how digital shopping environments increasingly rely on manipulative design tactics—such as countdown timers, fake scarcity, and gamification—to drive consumer behavior. The French advocacy group HOP has condemned these practices as “marketing obsolescence” and is calling for legal reforms to curb overconsumption, including sanctions for deceptive marketing and a national strategy for responsible advertising. Their report highlights how seemingly minor tactics, when combined, condition consumers to buy more than needed, often without realizing it. The newsletter concludes by positioning FairPatterns as a solution, offering AI tools to detect and prevent dark patterns in digital interfaces.

In June 2025, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released the final report of its six-year Digital Platforms Inquiry, raising significant concerns about the design practices of dominant digital platforms. The 400-page report details systemic issues such as misleading subscriptions, AI-driven data manipulation, and exploitative gaming mechanics. It calls for comprehensive regulatory reforms, including stronger enforcement and coordinated oversight. Reflecting a broader global trend—from the EU to the U.S. and UK—the report signals a growing consensus: digital platforms must be held accountable for design choices that harm users and undermine fair competition.

A 2025 global investigation led by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) uncovered widespread use of manipulative design across mobile and online games, including titles aimed at children as young as three. Involving 22 regulators and a review of 439 games, the sweep identified problematic practices such as hidden loot boxes, misleading in-game advertising, opaque virtual currencies, and dark patterns that pressure players into overspending. The findings highlight serious concerns around fairness, transparency, and the adequacy of current age ratings, calling for stronger accountability in the gaming industry.

Online reviews have become a key influence in consumer decision-making, especially during major sales events like Black Friday. However, the rise of sophisticated fake reviews has raised concerns about their reliability. In response, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) took action against Amazon in 2025, urging the platform to address misleading reviews and protect users from manipulation. The CMA emphasized that fake reviews not only deceive consumers but also threaten the overall trust and fairness of digital marketplaces.

SeaWorld’s $1.5M class action lawsuit is a textbook example of a dark pattern in action: a simple pass turned into a subscription trap—no notice, no clear consent, and a cancellation process full of friction. This case highlights the legal and ethical risks of deceptive design. At FairPatterns, we help businesses detect and fix these patterns fast with AI-powered tools, ensuring compliance, trust, and user freedom from the start.

Have you ever wondered why you keep getting SMS messages from companies you've never heard of? Those random texts about "exclusive deals" and "limited offers" that somehow found your number despite you never signing up?Here's the truth: you probably did sign up, just not the way you think. You clicked "I PARTICIPATE" on a contest, entered a giveaway, or filled out a survey for a free sample. That single click just fed your information into a billion-dollar data machine.

Is your cookie banner earning trust—or manipulating it? In a landmark case, Sweden’s data authority reprimanded Aller Media for using dark patterns to trick users into consent—highlighting how subtle design choices can violate GDPR and erode user trust. From visual imbalance to coercive phrasing, dark UX is no longer just a bad practice—it’s a legal liability. At FairPatterns, our AI-powered Cookie Consent Scanner audits real banners in real time, detecting design bias, hidden cookies, and compliance risks.

Nous sommes ravis de partager avec vous la dernière interview de notre CEO, où elle parle de l’importance du design éthique, de la lutte contre les dark patterns (pratiques trompeuses) et des moyens pour les organisations de créer des expériences digitales plus transparentes et centrées sur les utilisateurs.

In this episode of Fair Patterns, Stephanie Lucas shares how we can move beyond dark patterns to design fair, transparent, and trustworthy digital experiences—proving that ethical design isn’t just good for users, it’s good for business.

We’re looking for a talented Senior Project Manager to join our hybrid team in Paris! At Amurabi and Fair Patterns, we turn complex legal requirements into empowering, human-centered experiences. From AI tools that detect dark patterns to award-winning legal design projects, we’re on a mission to make the law accessible, ethical, and fair. You'll manage end-to-end client projects, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, help facilitate user workshops, and support our commercial strategy — all while making a positive impact at the intersection of law, tech, and design. We’re looking for someone with at least 3 years of experience in innovation agencies or startups, who is bilingual in English and French, curious, meticulous, solution-oriented, and excited to create meaningful impact. A background in law or privacy is a plus, but not required. Sound like you? Apply now and help us build a fairer digital world.

The Future of Gaming Depends on Fairness The gaming industry is at a crossroads. Dark patterns—from loot boxes to time-gated rewards—have turned once joyful experiences into manipulation engines. The fallout? Declining trust, rising regulations, and major legal settlements like Epic Games’ $445M penalty. At FairPatterns, we help game studios detect and eliminate dark patterns, ensuring compliance and building lasting player loyalty. Ethical design isn’t just the right thing—it’s the smart thing.

Dark patterns in UX—such as pre-ticked consent boxes, hidden opt-outs, and misleading cookie banners—undermine GDPR compliance and erode user trust. These deceptive tactics can lead to hefty fines, as seen with Amazon (€746M) and WhatsApp (€225M). To stay compliant, businesses must adopt transparent, user-friendly design, ensuring clear consent, easy data access, and ethical UX practices. FairPatterns helps companies detect and eliminate dark patterns with AI-driven tools and expert guidance.

From Convenience to Coercion: How Everyday Apps Are Costing Us More Than We Realize What starts as a simple ride, meal, or online purchase often ends with hidden fees, inflated prices, and subtle tricks designed to push us into paying more than we intended. This isn’t convenience—it’s manipulation, powered by dark patterns and surveillance pricing. Regulators are catching on, but is it enough? At FairPatterns, we help companies break the cycle—removing dark patterns, ensuring ethical pricing, and restoring trust in digital experiences. Because fairness isn’t just a legal box to tick—it’s the future of customer loyalty.

Trick questions, a subtle yet harmful dark pattern, manipulate users through confusing language and deceptive design, leading to unintended actions like unwanted data sharing or subscriptions. These tactics erode trust, violate privacy regulations, and damage user experiences. By embracing transparent language, clear opt-in options, and user testing, businesses can eliminate these manipulations, align with ethical standards, and foster stronger relationships with users. At FairPatterns, we empower organizations to detect and remove dark patterns, building trust-driven, user-friendly digital experiences for sustainable success.

In 2024, the fight against dark patterns intensified as governments, regulators, and consumers cracked down on deceptive practices that undermine trust. New laws like the EU AI Act and major lawsuits against companies like Amazon and Meta highlighted the global push for transparency and fairness. Innovative tools, including AI-powered plug-ins, are empowering users to identify manipulative designs. FairPatterns leads the way by helping businesses stay compliant, rebuild trust, and turn ethical practices into a competitive advantage in this new era of accountability.

As digital platforms grow, fair and transparent user experiences are essential for building trust, yet many users face "dark patterns"—manipulative designs that violate GDPR principles like fairness, transparency, and accountability. These tactics, such as misleading consent prompts and hidden privacy settings, risk legal penalties and erode user trust. By prioritizing clear communication, fair consent mechanisms, and privacy-by-design, businesses can ensure compliance, foster trust, and set an ethical standard. Tools like FairPatterns help detect and eliminate dark patterns, creating transparent and user-friendly digital experiences.

FairPatterns is honored to have contributed to the OECD Consumer Policy Ministerial Meeting with a video highlighting the impact of dark patterns. Using the example of buying a plane ticket, the video shows how deceptive design misleads consumers and leads to overspending. Together, let’s work towards a fairer digital world!

The EU has set a bold precedent in digital fairness by explicitly banning dark patterns through the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Digital Services Act (DSA), and AI Act. These manipulative design practices, which deceive users into actions against their best interests, are now illegal, holding major platforms like Meta, TikTok, and AliExpress accountable. By prioritizing transparency, ethical design, and user autonomy, these regulations aim to create a safer, fairer digital environment for consumers while urging businesses to adopt user-centered, compliant practices. Explore how these changes are reshaping digital accountability and trust in our latest blog.

The article highlights the prevalence of "dark patterns"—deceptive design tactics that manipulate users into actions they wouldn’t typically choose. Found in 76-97% of analyzed websites, these dark patterns exploit cognitive biases to control user behavior, often impacting privacy, spending, and autonomy. Examples include hidden costs, subscription traps, and misleading phrasing, which harm user trust and can be illegal under global regulations. Users can protect themselves by recognizing these patterns, questioning manipulative prompts, and reporting violations to authorities. FairPatterns advocates for fair design, aiming to help users and businesses foster a digital environment that prioritizes transparency and integrity.

In this insightful newsletter from Davis+Gilbert, Marie Potel-Saville, CEO of FairPatterns, and Paavana Kumar, Partner at Davis+Gilbert, delve into the growing issue of dark patterns—deceptive design practices in e-commerce that manipulate consumer behavior. They discuss the differences between acceptable advertising tactics and dark patterns, highlight the increasing enforcement actions from the FTC and state regulators, and outline the long-term damage these manipulative tactics can cause to businesses. The article emphasizes the importance of adopting ethical design practices to build trust, retain customers, and ensure compliance with evolving regulations.

In this episode of Fair Patterns, Chandni Gupta from CPRC discusses their 2022 report, revealing that 83% of Australians have been negatively impacted by deceptive online dark patterns.

This newsletter highlights the EU's push for a fairer digital environment through the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the upcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA). Six months after the DSA's implementation, online platforms are becoming more transparent and accountable, with investigations into companies like Meta and TikTok underway. The Digital Fairness Fitness Check underscores the need to address dark patterns—deceptive practices that manipulate users—and protect consumer autonomy. Looking ahead, the DFA aims to further tackle these issues. Fairpatterns continues to champion user empowerment, focusing on transparency and informed choices in the digital space.

In this episode of "Fair Patterns: Regain Your Freedom Online," Jennifer Dolan from the Irish Data Protection Commission discusses protecting children's privacy under GDPR, covering age verification, dark patterns, and the need for safer digital practices.

This newsletter explores the growing prevalence of deepfakes and their impact on society, highlighting findings from an Ofcom report that shows a significant increase in encounters with deepfakes among both adults and children. It addresses the challenges these digital deceptions pose, such as eroding trust and spreading misinformation, while offering potential strategies for mitigation, including improved detection methods and regulations. Insights from Dr. Celia Hodent emphasize the psychological risks associated with deepfakes and discuss ethical ways to navigate their use. The newsletter calls for a collective effort to maintain authenticity and integrity in the digital age.

Dark patterns are deceptive design practices used in digital environments like social media, gaming, e-commerce, and advertising to manipulate user behavior for business gains, often at the expense of user autonomy and trust. These tactics, such as infinite scroll, manipulative notifications, hidden fees, and difficult cancellation processes, exploit cognitive biases to influence users' decisions without their full awareness. Companies like FairPatterns advocate for ethical design by helping businesses create transparent, user-friendly experiences that respect user choices and build long-term trust. By understanding and addressing these dark patterns, businesses can foster a more ethical digital landscape that benefits both users and companies.

The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), in effect since August 2023, aims to create a safer, more transparent online environment by regulating digital platforms like social media and marketplaces. It prohibits dark patterns, requires platforms to remove illegal content, and mandates transparency in data use and algorithms. The DSA has prompted legal actions against platforms like X and Shein for non-compliance. This new regulation seeks to protect user rights and encourage ethical practices, reshaping the digital landscape in Europe.

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, the need for robust regulations to protect users and maintain a fair online environment has never been more pressing. The European Digital Services Act (DSA) is a groundbreaking piece of legislation aimed at addressing these concerns.

In today's digital landscape, creating user-centric design and content is more important than ever. With the rapid evolution of technology and the increasing expectations of users, businesses must prioritize their needs and preferences to stay competitive.

The Davis+Gilbert and Fair Patterns webinar, led by Pavaana Kumar and Marie Potel, examined AI-driven "dark patterns," deceptive designs that manipulate consumers. The discussion covered U.S. and EU regulations, including the FTC’s actions and the EU’s AI Act, which targets manipulative AI systems. The webinar emphasized ethical AI design through empathy, clear user prompts, and continuous monitoring to foster transparency and trust.

This edition highlights the global issue of dark patterns in online design. Reports reveal widespread deceptive practices impacting privacy and finances, with major companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon facing legal actions. We emphasize the importance of consumer awareness and stronger regulations to combat these unethical tactics. Stay informed and join the fight for ethical design!

In this episode of "Fair Patterns: Regain Your Freedom Online," we are joined by Claire Quinn, Chief Privacy Officer at Privo and former Chief of Safety at WeWorld.

In this edition, we highlight key developments shaping the digital landscape, including the FTC's landmark ruling against Amazon for deceptive Prime subscription practices, which could set a new standard for accountability. We continue our series on AI transparency, emphasizing the need for clear, ethical AI systems to build public trust. Additionally, we delve into the growing issue of digital slavery, where manipulative design and data exploitation threaten user autonomy, underscoring the urgent need for stronger regulations and digital literacy to protect consumers in the online world.

In the latest ‘Top of the Agenda’ podcast, Dr. Helen Jenkins, Marie Potel-Saville, and Dr. Anastasia Shchepetova discuss how deceptive online patterns exploit user biases and ways to create fairer digital choices.

In today's digital age, the importance of ethical design cannot be overstated.

In the realm of digital interfaces, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design are paramount.

In this edition, we explore pivotal developments shaping the digital landscape, from the EDPB's critique of the 'Pay or Okay' consent model used by Meta, to the European Commission's new whistleblower tool under the Digital Services Act, and new insights into Japanese reactions to dark patterns. These efforts highlight the ongoing global push for fairness, transparency, and accountability online, emphasizing the need for ethical digital practices that protect user rights in an increasingly complex digital world. Dive in to learn more about these crucial developments and how they impact the future of digital interactions.

As a digital marketer, legal director, or head of UX, you understand the importance of obtaining user consent for data collection and processing.

In the ever-evolving world of digital interfaces and online experiences, the term "user experience" (UX) is often synonymous with positive, intuitive, and user-friendly design.

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the intersection of law and technology presents both challenges and opportunities for innovation.

In the digital world, web design plays a crucial role in user experience (UX), guiding users through web interactions in a way that should be intuitive and enriching.