• The President of UOKiK has been looking into the activities of crowdfunding websites.
• Doubts were raised, among other things, about practices related to charging fees for website operations, including covering transaction costs.
• UOKiK will investigate whether the mechanisms used by Zrzutka.pl, Pomagam.pl and Siepomaga.pl satisfy the definition of “dark patterns”.

Crowdfunding sites have become an important part of philanthropic efforts in recent years. This was particularly evident during the social mobilization for those affected by this year's floods. Unfortunately, according to consumer reports and analyses by UOKiK, these types of services are not free of infringing practices, either, including the use of dark patterns, manipulative techniques or improper discharge of information obligations, among other things.

The President of UOKiK brought charges of violating the collective interests of consumers against Zrzutka.pl and has initiated investigations against the operators of two other popular crowdfunding sites, that is: Pomagam.pl and Siepomaga.pl. The concerns relate to mechanisms and content that encourage support of the sites when making donations to collections conducted through them.

- We do not question the right of owners of services that enable collections to charge fees to cover the costs of running them, or to make some form of profit. Companies such as Zrzutka.co.uk, Crowding and Siepomaga Foundation have the right to do so. However, they should do it transparently, without using techniques that fall under the definition of dark patterns. Protecting consumers in their dealings with entrepreneurs, regardless of the nature of their business, is our priority - notes the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

Are you sure this whip-round is voluntary?

The most objectionable practices are located on Zrzutka.pl. The analysis conducted by UOKiK as part of its preliminary investigation on the website operator shows that some of the entity’s practices and the content on the website may be manipulative. The regulations of Zrzutka.pl state that making a donation to the site when making a transaction (which was referred to as “covering transaction processing costs”) is voluntary. However, the next steps in the payment process might have misled consumers. For example, they may give the false impression that covering transaction processing costs was a condition for donating to a selected collection. This was indicated by the functionality of the website which, when you click on the “I make a donation” button, automatically took you to the section of the form on consent to cover the cost of handling the transaction.

In this situation, a consumer who wants to support a chosen donation objective may be convinced that there is no way to donate without incurring additional costs to the website. 
In addition, a person wishing to make a donation for an objective of their choice is forced to confirm the refusal of the said fee several times. In the process, the website operator additionally uses a message that creates emotional pressure which may also constitute an unfair market practice. It is about a pop-up with an image of a small cat accompanied by a text: When you deprive us of coins, somewhere in Poland a kitten cries. Are you sure you want to cancel your donation to Zrzutka.pl? 

Messages of this type can affect consumers’ feelings and decision-making processes, even more strongly when they participate in collections that help animals.

A donation or a whip-round fee?

There are also doubts about the use of the word “donation”, which is used in the website’s interface both to refer to a contribution to a selected collection and to a fee to cover transaction costs.

- It should be emphasised that the idea of Zrzutka.pl is to donate money to selected entities, so in these circumstances the term “donation” should be equated with the payment of money to the organised collection. The use of the term as a synonym for a “consent to cover transaction processing costs” may mislead donors, even if, from the legal point of view, it is a donation to the website operator - explains the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny. 

Users of the Pomagam.pl and Siepomaga.pl websites also complain about the use of unfair mechanisms. Both, when making contributions to charity collections, ask for additional support for their own activities. Both involve voluntary contributions, but the amounts of support are marked automatically at 15 percent of the contribution to a given collection. At the same time, both services report that the money raised in this way allows their operators to help "for free". Such practices can be misleading and are qualified as dark patterns. 

Dark patterns

It is worth remarking that the term dark patterns are used to refer to practices that businesses use to manipulate the actions of consumers in the virtual space.

Dark patterns mechanisms, through appropriate interface design, influence users to make choices they would not make if the interface did not distort the information presented or restrict them from acting on that information. The current definition of dark patterns was introduced by the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Single Market for Digital Services and Amendment of the Digital Services Act. The Polish-language version of the Digital Services Act translates the term dark patterns as “zwodnicze interfejsy” [deceptive interfaces].

The dark patterns include nagging and toying with emotion. Nagging involves repeated requests for the user to perform an action that the interface author prefers. Toying with emotion, on the other hand, is when the structure or design of the interface manipulates the user’s emotion.  

Whenever the President of UOKiK finds that there have been practices by entrepreneurs that violate the collective interests of consumers, he may order a change in the questioned practices, and in justified cases also impose a fine of up to 10 percent of turnover.