New Delhi, June 13 -- The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has directed over 50 digital platforms to remove dark patterns and complete self-audits within three months. What are dark patterns, and why is the CCPA sounding the alarm? Mint explains.

Dark patterns are deceptive practices used on websites or apps of digital platforms to influence users into actions they may not have planned. These tricks are designed to benefit the platform at the user's expense, and can lead to a financial loss for the user. Dark patterns could include a range of actions like requiring users to submit unrelated private details to continue, enabling automatic renewal of subscription without user-consent or making it hard for the user to unsubscrib...