Dark patterns: misleading design and consumer law

Service page: Class actions and consumer claims lawyer.

You tried to cancel a subscription and could not find a button? You paid NIS 35 extra for insurance you never asked for? You found out you signed up for an annual plan when you thought it was a free trial? This is not your mistake. It is deliberate manipulation, and it has a name: a dark pattern.

Companies invest large budgets in designing interfaces that lead you into mistakes. A cancel button in a color that blends into the background. An insurance field ticked “V” by default, hidden at the bottom of a list of fields nobody reads. A confirmation screen that shows a low price, until you get to payment. In Israel, these practices are prohibited. The problem is that most consumers do not know it.

What exactly is a dark pattern?

A dark pattern is an interface design meant to manipulate you into actions you did not intend. Not bad design, but deliberate design. The difference matters, but for the prohibition on misleading in the Consumer Protection Law it is enough that the interface may mislead a reasonable consumer.

The most common examples in Israel:

Impossible cancellation (roach motel): you signed up with one click, but to cancel you need 15 minutes on a phone call, hours of waiting, and an email to an address you will not find easily. In streaming, TV and mobile services this is a familiar method.

Trick questions: a checkbox that says “I do not agree to receive mailings”. Whoever ticked it by mistake was signed up for the newsletter. Whoever did not tick it was signed up too. Either way you lose.

Hidden costs: the flight cost NIS 199. On the confirmation page it is NIS 347, because insurance, seat selection and priority boarding have already been added. All of them are marked as “default”.

Forced continuity: a free trial month, credit card required. After 30 days, an automatic charge. No warning. No email.

Are dark patterns legal in Israel?

No. Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Law prohibits misleading, and that is exactly what these practices do. There is no need to prove bad intent; it is enough that the interface may mislead a reasonable consumer. The Privacy Protection Authority also stated, in an opinion (גילוי דעת) of 25 February 2026, that “dark tactics” (dark patterns) may take away the validity of consent to the collection of personal information.

In addition, in a distance sale (on a website, in an app or by phone), the consumer may cancel without giving a reason: for goods, up to 14 days from receiving them or from receiving the disclosure document, whichever is later; for a service, within 14 days from the day of the transaction or from receiving the document (section 14C(c) of the Consumer Protection Law), except for the exceptions in section 14C(d). A dealer that allows you to enter into a contract online must also allow cancellation online, through a dedicated and prominent link on the home page (section 14I). When the same design led to charges for a whole group of consumers, the question moves from an individual cancellation to class certification, and at that stage you need a class action lawyer.

Companies that charge after a free trial without express consent to a future charge are exposed to the argument that the charge was made without a lawful authorization: the Debit Cards Law, 5746-1986, was repealed on 14 October 2020 (section 55 of the Payment Services Law, 5779-2019), and the provisions on a debit authorization, canceling a charge and a transaction with a missing document are now set out in the Payment Services Law.

Did a trial period without payment turn into a paid subscription? Check: as a rule, a transaction in which you receive a service without payment or at a reduced price for a certain period is a “fixed-term transaction”, and a term under which the engagement continues after the period ends is void (sections 13A(a) and 13A(c)(1) of the Consumer Protection Law), unless the conditions below were met (section 13A(d)(2)).

• When you signed up, you were given a written document that stated, clearly and in detail, the amounts you will pay after the trial period ends.
• If the trial period ends more than four months after you signed up, you were also sent a written notice with the terms of the transaction, between 60 and 30 days before the period ends (section 13A(b)).
• For a shorter trial period there is no duty to give notice, but after it ends you can end the engagement without paying for ending it.

What to do if you have been a victim

You received a charge you did not ask for? You could not find a way to cancel a subscription? Here are the practical steps:

Step 1, documentation: keep screenshots of the purchase interface, of the payment confirmation and of every attempt to cancel. This is your evidence.

Step 2, a written cancellation demand: send an email or a written message to the company, state that you are canceling the transaction under section 14C of the Consumer Protection Law, and send the notice in one of the ways set out in section 14I, for example by email or through the dedicated link on the website. Keep the confirmation.

Step 3, contacting the Consumer Protection Authority: if the company refuses, file a complaint with the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. Filing the complaint involves no payment.

Step 4, a chargeback through the credit card company: you can ask the credit card company to cancel the charge (chargeback). When the goods or service were not supplied and you canceled the transaction, the Payment Services Law requires it to stop the charge (section 17); in other cases the request is assessed under the credit card company’s rules. Attach the screenshots.

Step 5, a small claim or a class action: there is no minimum amount for a small claim, so consider a claim in the Small Claims Court (up to NIS 39,900 as of January 2026). If you know that many people were harmed by the same practice, it is worth consulting a lawyer about a class action.

Where in Israel does this happen most?

Streaming services and digital subscriptions: hidden cancel buttons, automatic renewal without warning, “free” trials that turn into charges. Airlines and hotels: insurance and seat selection ticked by default. Shopping sites: a “cart” that adds products you did not choose. Mobile apps: “Get full access, a 7-day free trial”, where the small print explains that this is a one-year sign-up.

Where is regulation heading?

The European Union has expressly prohibited online platforms from designing an interface that deceives or manipulates users (Article 25 of the Digital Services Act, from 17 February 2024). An Israeli platform that offers a service to users in the EU is already subject to this today (Article 2). In Israel, a subscription that renews without consent or that is hard to cancel may be grounds for a class action against a dealer (item 1 of the Second Schedule to the Class Actions Law, 5766-2006). The direction is clear: fair design will become a duty, not a matter of choice. For a business that received a certification motion: defending against a motion to certify a class action.