‘Confirmshaming’: report reveals subscription traps and hidden costs targeting Australian consumers

Treasury paper identifies ways to crack down on unfair practices that nudge, manipulate or trick people into handing over money or data

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The “Hotel California” subscription, or the one you can never leave. The relentless pop-ups triggering your fear of missing out. Hidden costs. Confusing terms and conditions. “Confirmshaming”, where companies make you feel like an idiot when you try to opt out of their emails.

These are among the “dark patterns” used unfairly by companies to nudge, manipulate, exploit and trick consumers into handing over money or data.

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hidden costs such as care plans or insurance;

disguised advertisements that link to external sites;

trick questions with confusing options for data consent;

scarcity cues that instil a fear of missing out (Fomo);

activity notifications about what other consumers are doing;

“confirmshaming” which makes consumers feel guilty or silly for opting out (such as ‘no thanks, I prefer to pay more’);

“Hotel California” or forced continuity, which stops customers cancelling online subscriptions or services;

false hierarchies where consumers are nudged towards a “preferred choice”;

redirection or nagging such as with pop-ups;

data-grabbing by forcing consumers to create profiles or having a default

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