Just months after its acquisition by French gaming giant Voodoo, social networking app BeReal is in hot water for allegedly strong-arming its users into accepting the tracking of their personal data for advertising purposes.
The European privacy rights group noyb (short for "none of your business") has filed a complaint against BeReal with the CNIL, accusing the app of using manipulative "dark patterns" to undermine genuine user consent.
Not-so-real consent
At the heart of the complaint is a consent banner introduced in July 2024. While it appears to offer a straightforward choice to accept or reject tracking, noyb argues that the design is heavily biased. Users who agree to tracking are left undisturbed, whereas those who refuse are bombarded with a pop-up every time they upload their daily selfie, creating a cycle of frustration intended to push them into providing consent. Noyb has labelled this tactic "nudging" and contends that BeReal's approach violates the requirements set out in Article 4(11) GDPR, which mandates that consent must be "freely given".
Dark patterns and user manipulation
Data privacy regulators and activists argue that dark patterns like these exploit user frustration to manipulate users' decisions, undermining trust and privacy rights. The European Data Protection Board has previously flagged such practices as a concern, warning that incessant prompts push users to "consent" merely to escape the irritation.
Noyb has called on the CNIL to order BeReal to bring its data processing practices into compliance and to delete any data obtained through these alleged dark patterns. They have also suggested imposing a financial penalty for the purported violations.
Implications
The complaint against BeReal underscores growing concerns about the use of manipulative design techniques in social media. While it remains to be seen how BeReal and the CNIL will respond, the case highlights the importance of fair and transparent consent mechanisms and the need to provide users with a genuine choice. Companies should therefore take these considerations into account when designing online and app-based consent flows, and avoid engaging in manipulative design practices which pressurise users to provide consent.
