No harm no foul: how harms caused by dark patterns are conceptualised and tackled under EU data protection, consumer and competition laws

Abstract

Although several Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) studies have empirically investigated the harms caused by dark patterns, with policymakers and regulators regarding these harms significant, they have yet to be examined from a legal perspective. This paper identifies the individual, collective, material and non-material harms deriving from dark patterns, dissecting the role that harms play in the emerging European ‘dark patterns acquis’, comprising the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, AI Act and Data Act. In particular, it systematises the body of knowledge of dark patterns’ harms from HCI scholarship and proposes a dark pattern harm taxonomy. Ultimately, the paper reconciled the debate concerning dark patterns’ harms in HCI with the legal requirements for assessing harms, in light of the remedies mechanisms offered by European data protection, consumer law and competition law.