“Emotional steering” and so-called “dark patterns” in Google’s account sign-up processes led a user to make “unintended, unwilling and potentially harmful decisions” about their personal data. That is the nub of a Slovenian complaint being probed by the Irish data watchdog as part of a wider inquiry, which is currently paused, into whether the tech giant behind the world’s most popular search engine has violated EU privacy law. For those who don’t know, dark patterns are design choices crafted to trick or coerce consumers into taking actions that don’t benefit them – in Google’s case, by allegedly nudging users to…

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