On June 2, I wrote a blog post, Opaque (formerly Dark) Patterns and Arbitration Opt Outs, arguing that arbitration opt outs are really opaque patterns. On June 8, Mark J. Levin of the Ballard Spahr firm replied in a post at the Consumer Financial Monitor Blog, Arbitration opt out provisions benefit consumers, Professor Sovern. But Mr. […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Kate Berry has the story here (behind paywall but available on Lexis). Excerpt: * * * The consumer watchdog has filed just five enforcement actions so far this year compared with 20 last year, which marked the second-lowest number on record; just 10 enforcement actions were brought in 2018 during the Trump administration. By comparison, […]
Dark Patterns (I prefer calling them Opaque Patterns) have been drawing a lot of attention from consumer protection regulators in recent years. For those who are unclear on what they are, the FTC has defined them as “practices that trick or manipulate users into making choices they would not otherwise have made and that may […]
The latest episode of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast explores mass arbitration and includes as a guest arbitration champion Andrew Pincus, who argued the industry’s–and winning–position in Concepcion. As I listened to the podcast, which I recommend to those interested in consumer law, it became clear that one of Mr. Pincus’s chief complaints about […]
The phrase “dark patterns” was invented by Harry Brignull and has been defined by the FTC as ““practices that trick or manipulate users into making choices they would not otherwise have made and that may cause harm.” Examples include web sites that makes it easy to purchase an ongoing service but that make it harder […]
Myriam E. Gilles of Cardozo has written The Private Attorney General in a Time of Hyper-Polarized Politics, 65 Ariz. L. Rev. 337 (2023). Here’s the abstract: With the enactment of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”) in 1914 and the Wheeler–Lea Act in 1938, Congress sought to establish a brawny federal consumer protection regime to […]
Mark E. Budnitz of Georgia State has written New Developments in Payment Systems and Services Affecting Low-Income Consumers: Challenges and Opportunities, Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy (2023). Here’s the abstract: The consumer financial services industry has taken advantage of digital technology to transform the way it provides services to consumers using payment systems. After […]
Benjamin L. Cavataro of Villanova has written Regulating Guns as Products, forthcoming in 92 George Washington Law Review (2024). Here’s the abstract: Toy guns are subject to federal product safety regulation. Real guns are not. If a defect in an air rifle causes it to discharge without warning, the manufacturer would be required to promptly […]
American Banker’s Penny Crosman has the story here (behind a paywall but available on Lexis), based on remarks at the Fintech Nexus conference. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra also spoke about how he wants to make it easier for consumers to switch banks so they can more readily take advantage of better prices or service and […]
Christopher G. Bradley of Kentucky has written Privacy Policy Indeterminacy. Here’s the abstract: Despite being subjected to decades of sharp criticism, privacy policies published by companies remain a linchpin of privacy regulation. Representations in these policies provide the main measure against which consumer privacy can be judged. Policies are rarely read by consumers and are […]