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0 pointsnostromo5y ago0 comments

I’m not sure I want the government opting me in to programs any more than I want Google opting me in to things that may not be in my best interest.

If dark patterns start working their way into government, god help us all.

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5 comments · 3 top-level

sokoloff5y ago· 2 in thread

In setting defaults, you’re always making a choice.

“By default, all drivers will not be marked as organ donors.” vs “By default, all drivers will be marked as organ donors.”

“By default, all employees at companies with 401(k)s will save X% of their eligible salary in 401(k)s.”

You’re making a choice for them in any event.

ghaff5y ago

I agree with you but we also need to be careful given how powerful defaults are. Even Thaler has, I believe, argued against organ donation being opt out; rather I think he's argued for requiring a yes/no choice when driver's licenses are renewed. (The argument is opt out would lead to next of kin/families arguing that the deceased never made a choice to donate.)

function_seven5y ago

Ad companies argued this when Microsoft updated IE (or was it Edge?) to set the DNT flag to “1” by default.

I think they were right to argue as such, and wonder if MS knew that defaulting DNT to on would poison the well like that.

It’s a good argument. When people argue over what a default should be, they often don’t realize that it’s possible to have no default at all, and force an explicit choice.

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okintheory5y ago

Just FYI, govt. dark patterns in the US have been around for a very long time. For example, you could read about the "literacy" tests for voting in Southern states. Robert Caro has a nice description in Master of the Senate, vol. 2 of his LBJ biography.

EDIT: (From Caro) Questions on these tests posed to Black people in Alabama have included: "Give the names of all sixty-seven county judges in the state", "State the date when Oklahoma was admitted to the Union", and "How many bubbles there are in a bar of soap".

reallydontask5y ago

There are positives to the default being opt in, e.g. organ donor.

There could be negatives of course, there is no substitute for an informed citizenry and indepedent media to challenge such instances.

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