In the last couple months, I've accidentally signed up for both Robinhood Gold and Lyft Pink. I have no idea how the Gold signup happened, but I definitely remember the egregious Lyft Pink signup modal that made the signup button seem like it was just part of the flow of unlocking a bike, every single time.
Is it just me, or are these things getting worse? Have these companies just discovered that there are no repercussions to this behavior, or have they collapsed to the point where the short-term incentives of their decision makers aren't aligned with the companies' long term interests?
CFPB and FTC talked about it: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/compliance/circulars/consume...
Summary of comparable talk in the EU: https://www.insideprivacy.com/eu-data-protection/the-eu-stan...
Down in the details, it looks like there has been enforcement in individual cases, but it obviously was not enough to stop the flood.
Measuring only profit leads to systems that destroy and corrupt everything in the interest of profit. Enshittification is in the genetic code of late stage capitalism.
These are companies, even as monopolies or cartels, that tremble in fear of losing even 1-2% revenue, because the means the illusion of perpetual growth is broke and the execs can't strike their options.
Buy less. Get by with less. Buy used. Buy generic. Consume less. Sleep more. Read more. Exercise. Cook. Walk or bike.
How companies use dark patterns to keep you subscribed
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35815765
It's refreshing not having to worry about a service charging for another month due to some dark pattern or bug when you try to cancel.
For the past month I've been getting emails that chegg has been repeatedly trying to charge the card I deactivated, feels nice never having to worry about one of them going through.
I still wonder if they just decided to f* it because they don't have to follow those rules anymore.