On April 12, 2022, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against TransUnion, two of its subsidiaries, and longtime executive John Danaher for violating a 2017 law enforcement order. The order was issued to stop TransUnion from engaging in deceptive marketing, however, CFPB reports that the company continued its unlawful behavior, disregarded the order’s requirements, and continued employing deceitful digital dark patterns to profit from customers.
According to the CFPB’s press release, “Dark patterns are hidden tricks or trapdoors companies build into their websites to get consumers to inadvertently click links, sign up for subscriptions, or purchase products or services. Dark patterns can complicate or hide information, such as making it difficult for consumers to cancel a subscription service.”
As alleged by the Bureau, the company used a number of dark patterns to trick people into recurring payments and to make cancellations difficult. As an example, TransUnion employed digital dark patterns by integrating deceptive buttons into its online interface that appeared to be giving free credit scores to the consumers in addition to viewing their free credit report. In reality, clicking this button signed consumers up for recurring monthly charges using the credit card information they had provided during the “identity verification process”. The disclosure for this process was located off to the side of the enrollment form inside an image that can take up to 30 seconds longer to load than the rest of the material in the form. In addition, TransUnion deliberately made it difficult for consumers to cancel through clever uses of font and color on its website.
The CFPB also asserts that TransUnion violated Regulation V, which implements the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
The CFPB’s full press release can be found here.
