Online games use dark designs to collect players' data, finds study
A new study, by scientists at Finland-based Aalto University, reveals misconceptions and concerns about privacy among players.
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It was really surprising for study authors how nuanced the considerations of gamers were.
»For example, participants said that, to protect their privacy, they would avoid using voice chat in games unless it was absolutely necessary. Our game analysis revealed that some games try to nudge people to reveal their online identities by offering things like virtual rewards," said Lindqvist in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.
The authors identified instances of games using dark design — interface decisions that manipulate users into doing something they otherwise wouldn't. These could facilitate the collection of player data and encourage players to integrate their social media accounts or allow data sharing with third parties.
«When social media accounts are linked to games, players generally can't know what access the games have to these accounts or what information they receive,» said Amel Bourdoucen, doctoral researcher in usable security at Aalto.
For example, in some popular games, users can log in with (or link to) their social
