On April 9, 2019, Representatives Warner (D-VA) and Fischer (R-NE) introduced the Deceptive Experiences To Online Users Reductions (DETOUR) Act. The bill would criminalize user interface “dark patterns” around user consent, which trick or nudge (depending on your perspective) users into consenting to things that may not be in their best interests.
There is a whole website devoted to dark patterns, and it is pretty informative. Here’s an example of a dark pattern that makes it hard to figure out how not to sign up for a service:
The DETOUR Act gives the FTC power to regulate user interfaces that have “the purpose or substantial effect of obscuring, subverting, or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice to obtain consent or user data.” It also prohibits the segmentation of users into groups for behavioral experimentation without informed consent.
The Act would only apply to “large online operators,” defined as having more than 100M authenticated users in any 30 day period. (Small online operators can still trick people?) Large online operators would also have to disclose their experiments every 90 days and establish Independent Review Boards to oversee any such user research.