The Career Development and Guidance Centre at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, successfully conducted a 1-day hackathon named “Dark Pattern Buster Hackathon-2023 (DPBH- 2023)” on January 30, 2024. The hackathon has been launched with the aim of combating deceptive dark patterns in e-commerce websites by the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, in collaboration with IIT-BHU.
Round 1 (team registration) and Round 2 (live demonstration) of the hackathon have been conducted at PEC, one of the nodal centers in the northern region. The nodal officer and Prof. In Charge CDGC, Dr. Poonam Saini, have stated that the participants are expected to focus on AI-enabled solutions such as pattern detection, user-friendly extensions, and cross-browser compatibility. The participants should be capable of providing innovative solutions that adhere to the functionalities and features of the websites. A total of 15 teams from various institutes have participated in the hackathon at Punjab Engineering College, like NIT Hamirpur, IIT Roorkee, and PEC itself.
Dr. Shilpa, faculty CSE and institute coordinator for DPBH, added that the objective of the initiative is to protect consumers from all types of unfair trade practices. Through this hackathon, we seek to address diverse solutions that do not impair consumer autonomy, decisions, or violations of consumer rights. The participants presented solutions to various problems, like false urgency, forced action, drip pricing, subscription traps, and disguised advertisements in the presence of an evaluation committee comprising Dr. Sudesh, Mr. Mayank Gupta, Dr. Satnam Kaur and Dr. Arman. Selected teams will be sent to IIT-BHU to compete in the Inter-Institute DPBH- 2023 for the grand finale round on February 17, 2024. Top-5 winning teams at national level will receive cash prizes and certificates for their effective solutions on World Consumer Rights Day.
Dr. Baldev Setia, Director PEC, has endorsed the engagement of PEC as the Nodal Center to participate in DPBH-2023 and supported the organizing team for the successful conduct of this national level hackathon initiated by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Supply (MoCA), Govt. of India.
