Dark patterns are tricks used by applications and websites to make users do things they don't want to. They rely on exploiting our behavioural biases and cognitive limitations. We all encounter dark patterns in our daily lives, like:

1. Making it easy to subscribe but hard to unsubscribe.
2. Pre-selecting actions like purchasing insurance, offering tips, payment methods etc.
3. Some e-commerce platforms "sneak" new items that you didn't choose just before the payment step.
4. Hiding or obscuring important details.
5. Using scary and fearful language.

In this conversation, Ashish Aggarwal (head of public policy at NASSCOM), Kailash Nadh (CTO at Zerodha) and Bhuvanesh R (Zerodha) discuss how dark patterns are harmful for users and the kind of regulations that must surround them.