GCCA participated in the annual International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) Sweep, which examined websites and mobile apps for using dark patterns in the marketing of subscription services.
The global internet sweep that examined the websites and mobile apps of traders together with 26 other consumer protection enforcement authorities has found that the majority of traders employed at least one dark pattern. Dark patterns commonly found in online user interfaces that steer, deceive, coerce, or manipulate consumers into making choices that often are not in their best interests.
The websites and mobile apps of 642 traders within the annual International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) Sweep, which took place between January 29 and February 2, 2024, were examined, together with 26 other consumer protection enforcement authorities. Sweepers evaluated the sites and apps based on six indicators identified by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as being characteristic of dark commercial patterns. According to the results, 75.7% of the traders employed at least one dark pattern, and 66.8% of them used two or more dark patterns. The sweep confirmed the growing prevalence of dark patterns in the online trade.
GCCA examined 6 traders within the project; 87% of them utilised at least one dark pattern. Furthermore, the GCCA sweepers found that a type of dark pattern, such as interface interference, was encountered especially frequently during the sweep. Consequently, GCCA will follow up on these findings in the enforcement process.
Since 2023, GCCA has been a committed partner of ICPEN, an organisation of over 70 consumer protection law enforcement authorities. This partnership provides a forum for regular exchanges between consumer protection agencies and encourages cross-border cooperation to provide greater consumer protection across the globe.
FYI: The Georgian Competition and Consumer Protection Agency (GCCA) enforces the Law on Consumer Protection rights from 2022 and the Law on Electronic Commerce from 2024. In case of breach of consumer rights, both a legal entity and an individual are entitled to fill in a particular application form - https://gcca.gov.ge/index.php?m=401 and send it to the E-mail consumer@gcca.gov.ge
For more information, you can call the GCCA hotline at 15 20.
