New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- India's advertising industry's self-regulator plans to educate children about dark patterns or strategies used by online retailers to trick users into making unwanted purchases.

"Kids are a good focus area for us over the next few months, and we have just started a pilot to look at building advertising literacy for school kids," Manisha Kapoor, chief executive officer and secretary-general at the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), told Mint in an interview. The body will conduct classroom sessions for kids, starting with the Delhi National Capital Region, to help them understand the commercial intent of advertising.

The idea, Kapoor said, is to ensure children, who are digital natives but not exactly d...