Disclaimer

Dark Wiki publishes information about a catalogue of deceptive interface design. Please read what that does and does not mean.

What this site is not

This is documentation and commentary on design practice. It is not legal advice, and it is not a determination that any interface violates any law. Whether a given pattern is unlawful depends on the jurisdiction, the sector and the facts, and that judgement belongs to regulators and courts.

If you are affected

If you believe you have been misled by an interface and have lost money as a result, your remedy is with your consumer protection authority, your payment provider or a qualified lawyer — not with a reference site. We cannot advise on or intervene in individual complaints.

On naming companies

Where an entry describes a pattern seen in a real product, it describes what was publicly observable at the time of writing. Interfaces change, often in response to exactly this kind of scrutiny, and an example may no longer reflect the current product. Nothing here is an allegation of unlawful conduct, and we correct examples promptly when they go out of date — write to us.

How our content is made

Pattern entries are researched from published regulatory findings, academic work on deceptive design, and publicly observable interfaces, and drafted with the assistance of large language models, and reviewed by a person before deployment. Where we describe a pattern we aim to describe the mechanism, not to accuse a particular company of intent we cannot evidence.

No warranty

This site and everything on it is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law we are not liable for any loss arising from your use of, or reliance on, anything published here. Our terms govern your use of the site.

Advertising disclosure

This site carries third-party advertising, including Google AdSense. Advertisers have no influence over what we publish and we do not accept payment for coverage. Advertising is what keeps the site free to read.

External links

We link outward where it is useful. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content.

Contact

Questions about anything on this page: [email protected], operated by Garnet Grid Consulting LLC.