Data protection and deceptive design patterns

There is a growing body of research questioning the utility of relying on individual empowerment in data protection law. This literature questions the role individual control of our personal data as a central regulatory feature of these laws. A significant concern evident in this literature relates to how those processing our personal data can seemingly manipulate our choices and thus, how design can be used to trick, confuse, and obscure options. The regulation of so-called dark or deceptive design patterns is certainly a topic at the forefront of policymakers’ minds.

Despite the significance of the critique, Damian believes that data protection law is an important regulatory instrument in countering manipulative and/or deceptive design practices through its focus on fair processing of personal data and this is very much by regulatory design. Therefore, this seminar will explore the role for data protection law in regulating deceptive design patterns and reflects on what this means for the notion of control considering the concerns raised in the critical literature.

About the speaker

Damian Clifford is a senior lecturer at the Australian National University, College of Law. His research focuses predominantly on data protection, privacy, consumer protection and the regulation of technology. He has published two books: Data and Private Law (edited with Jeannie Marie Paterson and Kwan Ho Lau and published by Hart in 2023) and Data Protection Law and Emotion (published by Oxford University Press in 2024).

Before becoming a senior lecturer, Damian was a postdoctoral research fellow at the ANU College of Law from February-December 2020. He has also previously been a visiting lecturer at the Dickson Poon School of Law, Kings College London (2018-2019), and a sessional lecturer and honorary fellow at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Damian completed his PhD at the KU Leuven Faculty of Law (Belgium) where he was a FWO Aspirant Fellow funded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) from October 2015 to October 2019.

From September 2025, Damian will be an Assistant Professor at the LSE Law School.

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This seminar presentation is in-person only. Registration is not required for in-person attendance as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing.

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Image credit: Image of circuit board with lock in the middle, suggesting IT security, by akitada31 on pixabay, free to use under Pixabay license.