Dark Patterns · principle
Sneak into Basket
Playable Play this law (~3 min)or keep reading below ↓
Items, add-ons, insurance or donations that join the cart without the user's explicit action — usually via a pre-ticked box or an opt-out buried in the summary. Consent is forged by a default. India's CCPA Guidelines (2023) name 'basket sneaking' outright: anything that costs money enters the basket only by the user's own hand.
Where it comes from
Harry Brignull's 2010 taxonomy catalogued it from e-commerce, but the street knew it first: the vendor who slips two extra items into your bag and weighs it before you object, the restaurant 'cover charge' you discover on the bill. India's CCPA Guidelines (30 Nov 2023) list basket sneaking first among thirteen named dark patterns — the digital bag now has a law about what may be slipped into it.
Origin: Brignull's taxonomy (2010); CCPA Guidelines (2023), pattern #1
In the wild
- Pre-ticked 'protection plans'
A ₹129 add-on riding along at checkout, betting you won't audit the total.
- Auto-added travel insurance
Flight bookings that quietly include insurance made the pattern infamous enough to regulate.
- The honest version
'Frequently bought together' with UNCHECKED boxes — suggestion is fine; self-adding is the sin.
Further reading
Don't just read it — feel it.
Play the 3-minute game and let your own reactions prove the law.
Play the lesson