The Effect of Design Patterns on (Present and Future) Cookie Consent Decisions

Nataliia Bielova (), Laura Litvine (), Anysia Nguyen (), Mariam Chammat, Vincent Toubiana () and Estelle Hary ()
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Nataliia Bielova: PRIVATICS - Privacy Models, Architectures and Tools for the Information Society - Centre Inria de l'Université Grenoble Alpes - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CITI - CITI Centre of Innovation in Telecommunications and Integration of services - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - Centre Inria de Lyon - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique
Laura Litvine: BIT - Behavioural Insights Team
Anysia Nguyen: BIT - Behavioural Insights Team
Mariam Chammat: DITP - Interministerial Directorate for Public Transformation
Vincent Toubiana: Cnil - Commission nationale de l'informatique des libertés - CNIL
Estelle Hary: RMIT University - Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University

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Abstract: Today most websites in the EU present users with a consent banner asking about the use of cookies or other tracking technologies. Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) need to ensure that users can express their true preferences when faced with these banners, while simultaneously satisfying the EU GDPR requirements. To address the needs of the French DPA, we conducted an online experiment among 3,947 participants in France exploring the impact of six different consent banner designs on the outcome of users' consent decision. We also assessed participants' knowledge and privacy preferences, as well as satisfaction with the banners. In contrast with previous results, we found that a "bright pattern" that highlights the decline option has a substantial effect on users' decisions. We also find that two new designs based on behavioral levers have the strongest effect on the outcome of the consent decision, and participants' satisfaction with the banners. Finally, our study provides novel evidence that the effect of design persists in a short time frame: designs can significantly affect users' future choices, even when faced with neutral banners.

Keywords: GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation; Compliance; Decision-making; Consent banner; Cookie banner; Dark patterns; Interface design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-08-14
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04913806v1
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Published in USENIX Security 2024 - 33rd USENIX Security Symposium, Aug 2024, Philadelphia (PA), United States. pp.2813--2830

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