Principle 05 of 8
Care
Protect vulnerable people; do not profit from distress, grief, or compulsion.
Protects
Children, people in crisis, older adults, anyone vulnerable
Why it matters
Some people cannot protect themselves in the moment. A business that targets that moment is choosing profit over the person.
Covers
Exploitation of vulnerable populations (Category 10), emotional manipulation and engagement-addiction design (3.6–3.8), and crisis pricing and predatory lending (1.2, 1.7).
Practices that break it
21 subsections · 123 practices
1.2Surge & Crisis Pricing+ Honesty5
1.7Predatory Lending & Consumer Finance+ Fairness9
3.6Behavioral Reinforcement+ Autonomy9
3.7Emotional Manipulation+ Autonomy6
3.8Engagement-Addiction Optimization5
4.8Children's Data Collection+ Privacy7
7.8Manipulative Imagery & Body Standards+ Honesty4
7.11Vulnerability-Targeting Marketing+ Honesty5
10.1Predatory Targeting of Children & Minors11
10.2Predatory Targeting of Financial Distress+ Fairness4
10.3Self-Exclusion Sabotage+ Autonomy4
10.4Grief & End-of-Life Exploitation5
10.5Senior & Cognitive Vulnerability9
10.6Crisis & Disaster Exploitation5
10.7Migrant & Visa-Dependent Coercion+ Responsibility5
10.8Incarcerated Population Exploitation+ Responsibility6
10.9Domestic-Violence Survivor Endangerment+ Privacy2
10.10Patient Vulnerability During Treatment8
10.11Pet-Owner & Family Exploitation6
11.12Performance & Quality Management Abuse+ Responsibility3
11.14Moderator & Worker Trauma+ Responsibility5
The same principle, across industries
Every practice above, as it reads in the catalog. Numbers link to the standard.
1.2 Surge & Crisis Pricing · 5 practices
Care+ Honesty
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2.1 | Crisis-Period Price Gouging | Algorithmically raising prices on essential goods or services during emergencies, weather events, or supply shocks when consumers cannot defer purchase. | Grocery, e-commerce, ride-hailing, food delivery, plumbing/home repair, pest control |
| 1.2.2 | Emergency-Markup Exploitation | Charging premium rates for after-hours, urgent, or emergency service when the customer has no time to compare alternatives. | Plumbing, automotive towing, veterinary, healthcare, funeral services, cybersecurity (ransomware response) |
| 1.2.3 | Last-Minute Price Inflation | Raising prices dramatically as the deadline (travel date, event, deadline) approaches, exploiting urgency. | Travel, ticketing, gambling, betting |
| 1.2.4 | Algorithmic Personalized Pricing | Adjusting prices in real time based on browsing history, device, location, or perceived willingness to pay without disclosure. | Hospitality, e-commerce, ride-hailing, grocery, fashion, ticketing |
| 1.2.5 | Tourist-Targeted Overcharging | Charging higher prices to visibly identifiable visitors who lack local knowledge of fair prices, sometimes refusing meters or quoting opaque flat rates. | Taxi services, retail in tourist zones, hospitality, currency exchange |
1.7 Predatory Lending & Consumer Finance · 9 practices
Care+ Fairness
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.7.1 | Overdraft Reordering | Processing transactions largest-first to maximize overdraft fees, cascading charges from small purchases. | Financial services |
| 1.7.2 | Payday-Loan / Refund-Advance Trap | Offering short-term loans at effective APRs above 100–300%, designed for rollover rather than repayment, often disguised as "instant refunds." | Financial services, tax preparation |
| 1.7.3 | Penalty-APR Weaponization | Applying penalty rates to entire balances after a single late payment, including new purchases. | Financial services |
| 1.7.4 | Minimum-Payment Illusion | Displaying minimum payments prominently while burying total interest cost and time-to-payoff. | Financial services, retail credit |
| 1.7.5 | Negative-Equity Rolling | Rolling negative equity from a previous loan into a new loan without clearly disclosing the increased total obligation. | Automotive |
| 1.7.6 | Debt-Trap Lending | Extending credit, leases, or input loans with terms designed to create perpetual financial dependency. | Agriculture (farmer debt), cannabis (grower lending), debt collection, prison commissary |
| 1.7.7 | Refund-Advance APR Concealment | Marketing refund anticipation loans as "instant refunds" while obscuring effective interest rates that often exceed 100% APR. | Tax preparation |
| 1.7.8 | Pre-Need Investment Misrepresentation | Marketing pre-paid funeral or cemetery products as appreciating financial investments rather than prepaid services. | Funeral & death care |
| 1.7.9 | Payment-Plan Predatory Terms | Offering high-interest installment plans for essential expenditures without disclosing total interest paid. | Veterinary, dental, healthcare, mental health |
3.6 Behavioral Reinforcement · 9 practices
Care+ Autonomy
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.6.1 | Variable Reward Scheduling | Unpredictable rewards (likes, matches, drops) tuned to maximize engagement, mirroring slot-machine mechanics. | Social media, dating, gaming, gambling |
| 3.6.2 | Infinite Scroll | Eliminating natural stopping cues by paginating endlessly. | Social media, news feeds, e-commerce |
| 3.6.3 | Autoplay | Auto-advancing to the next video, episode, or content item without user action. | Streaming, social media, gaming |
| 3.6.4 | Notification Manipulation | Strategic alerts ("You have unseen activity!") designed to trigger re-engagement when nothing new is present. | Social media, dating, gambling |
| 3.6.5 | Streak Mechanics | Punishing breaks in usage with public streak loss and reminders. | Social media, fitness apps, language-learning |
| 3.6.6 | Artificial Progress Bars | Profile or task completeness indicators that exploit completion bias and never quite reach 100%. | Social media, e-commerce loyalty, fitness |
| 3.6.7 | Pull-to-Refresh as Slot Lever | Gesture-based feed refresh that mimics slot-machine pulls with variable new content. | Social media, news feeds |
| 3.6.8 | Loss-Disguised-as-Win Cues | Celebrating near-misses or partial returns with winning sounds, animations, or visual cues that neurologically mimic actual wins. | Gambling, gaming (loot boxes) |
| 3.6.9 | Time-Distortion Design | Removing clocks, windows, or natural time cues to obscure session duration. | Gambling (casinos, apps), social media |
3.7 Emotional Manipulation · 6 practices
Care+ Autonomy
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.7.1 | Fear Appeals | Marketing that exaggerates risks ("Your data is at risk!") to drive action. | Cybersecurity, supplements, baby products, insurance, pet industry, home services |
| 3.7.2 | Guilt Induction | Implying the user is letting someone down by declining ("You'll regret this," "Don't you care?"). | Nonprofits (fundraising), retail, dating |
| 3.7.3 | Social-Pressure Framing | Implying social judgment ("Your friends already joined"). | Social media, e-commerce |
| 3.7.4 | Loss Framing | Emphasizing what the user will lose ("Don't lose your progress!"). | Subscription services, fitness, gaming |
| 3.7.5 | False Authority Claims | Fabricated or unsubstantiated expert endorsements ("Recommended by 9/10 doctors"). | Supplements, beauty, food, dental |
| 3.7.6 | Dignity-Language Exploitation | Steering grieving or vulnerable customers toward expensive options through implied judgments about love, respect, or duty. | Funeral services, senior care, wedding planning |
3.8 Engagement-Addiction Optimization · 5 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.8.1 | Outrage Amplification | Algorithmically prioritizing anger-inducing or divisive content because it maximizes engagement. | Social media, search/news, podcasting |
| 3.8.2 | Polarization Optimization | Optimizing recommendations to reinforce existing beliefs and suppress cross-cutting perspectives. | Social media |
| 3.8.3 | Calm-Content Demotion | Down-ranking informational content that does not provoke strong emotional responses. | Social media, search engines |
| 3.8.4 | Fringe-Content Amplification | Promoting extreme, conspiratorial, or sensational content because it generates longer sessions. | Social media, streaming recommendations |
| 3.8.5 | Self-Harm Content Clustering | Algorithmically recommending or clustering self-harm, eating-disorder, or suicide content to vulnerable users. | Social media |
4.8 Children's Data Collection · 7 practices
Care+ Privacy
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.8.1 | Identifier Collection from Minors | Collecting identifying information from users under 13 in violation of COPPA-equivalent rules. | Baby/children's products, gaming, social media, podcasting (kids' content) |
| 4.8.2 | Inadequate Age Verification | Using self-reported age with no verification, enabling minors to access age-restricted features. | Social media, gambling, alcohol, tobacco/vaping, cannabis |
| 4.8.3 | Engagement-Maximizing Features for Minors | Streaks, likes, infinite-scroll, push notifications targeted at or disproportionately affecting under-18 users. | Social media, gaming |
| 4.8.4 | Educational-App Surveillance | Selling or sharing student learning data, engagement metrics, or personal information to third parties. | Education, EdTech |
| 4.8.5 | Childcare Behavioral-Data Sale | Selling developmental assessments, behavioral records, or learning data from childcare programs. | Childcare/daycare |
| 4.8.6 | Smart-Monitor Infant Data | Collecting sleep patterns, vital signs, and movement from baby monitors beyond device function. | Baby/children's products |
| 4.8.7 | AI-Proctoring Bias on Students | Requiring AI exam monitoring that flags students of color at higher rates and collects biometrics without safeguards. | Education |
7.8 Manipulative Imagery & Body Standards · 4 practices
Care+ Honesty
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8.1 | Photoshopped Results Without Disclosure | Displaying digitally altered before/after images or retouched model photography to exaggerate effectiveness. | Beauty, cosmetics, fitness |
| 7.8.2 | Unrealistic Beauty Standards | Promoting unattainable appearance ideals through filters, editing, or selective casting. | Beauty, fashion |
| 7.8.3 | Body-Shaming Hygiene Marketing | Implying natural body features (odor, texture, appearance) are shameful and require correction. | Personal care, hygiene products |
| 7.8.4 | Survivor / Cherry-Picked Testimonials | Showcasing only exceptional results while suppressing typical outcomes. | Fitness, supplements, education |
7.11 Vulnerability-Targeting Marketing · 5 practices
Care+ Honesty
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.11.1 | Targeting Self-Excluded Users | Sending promotions, free bets, or outreach to individuals who have registered on self-exclusion lists. | Gambling |
| 7.11.2 | Loss-Chasing Identification & Exploitation | Identifying players who increase bets after losses and targeting them with reinforcement offers. | Gambling |
| 7.11.3 | Mental-Health Distress Targeting | Targeting users showing signs of depression, anxiety, or distress with predatory loans, gambling, or exploitative services. | Digital advertising, financial services |
| 7.11.4 | Vulnerable-Patient Symptom Upselling | Online symptom assessments that invariably recommend the company's products regardless of symptoms. | Supplements, telehealth |
| 7.11.5 | Cessation-Sabotage Marketing | Using data indicating a user is attempting to quit (smoking, gambling) to target them with re-engagement offers. | Tobacco/vaping, gambling |
10.1 Predatory Targeting of Children & Minors · 11 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1.1 | Marketing Addictive Products to Minors | Designing flavors, mascots, packaging, or social-media campaigns that attract underage users to addictive or restricted products. | Tobacco/vaping, alcohol, cannabis (candy-style packaging), gambling |
| 10.1.2 | Cartoon Characters on Unhealthy Food | Using licensed characters or cartoons to market high-sugar, high-sodium, or low-nutrition products to children. | Food/beverage manufacturing |
| 10.1.3 | Character Licensing on Unhealthy Products | Using popular children's characters to market sugary foods, low-nutrition snacks, or excessive-screen-time apps. | Food/beverage manufacturing, baby/children's products |
| 10.1.4 | In-App Purchase Targeting in Kids' Apps | Designing children's apps with predatory microtransaction mechanics and manipulative UX. | Baby/children's products, gaming |
| 10.1.5 | Loot Boxes as Gambling Gateway | Offering randomized purchasable rewards in gaming-adjacent products that mirror gambling without age verification or odds disclosure. | Gaming, gambling |
| 10.1.6 | Esports Betting Targeting Minors | Marketing bets on events with youth-heavy audiences through influencer partnerships. | Gambling |
| 10.1.7 | Cartoon-Style Gambling Apps | Designing gambling-adjacent apps with cartoon aesthetics, bright colors, and gamified mechanics appealing to children. | Gambling |
| 10.1.8 | School-Sponsorship Product Placement | Sponsoring school programs in exchange for product placement or exclusivity agreements. | Food/beverage manufacturing |
| 10.1.9 | Reality-TV Minor Consent Gaps | Featuring minors in reality television without adequate informed consent, oversight, or long-term psychological support. | Film/television |
| 10.1.10 | Predator Contact Enablement | Designing discovery and messaging features that facilitate unsolicited contact between adults and minors. | Social media |
| 10.1.11 | Toy & Premium Incentives | Including toys or collectibles with unhealthy meals to drive child demand. | Food/beverage manufacturing |
10.2 Predatory Targeting of Financial Distress · 4 practices
Care+ Fairness
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.2.1 | Subprime / Distress Targeting | Marketing high-interest or predatory financial products specifically to low-income, minority, or financially distressed communities. | Financial services, advertising |
| 10.2.2 | Refund-Time Credit-Product Targeting | Marketing refund advances or high-fee financial products at moments of maximum financial need. | Tax preparation |
| 10.2.3 | Financial-Product Targeting from Tax Returns | Using tax-return data to target clients for high-interest loans, refund advances, or other financial products. | Tax preparation |
| 10.2.4 | Family-Support Fee Extraction | Imposing excessive fees on money transfers to incarcerated relatives. | Prison/corrections |
10.3 Self-Exclusion Sabotage · 4 practices
Care+ Autonomy
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.3.1 | VIP Programs for Problem Gamblers | Extending VIP status, bonuses, and personalized hospitality to players whose loss patterns indicate addiction. | Gambling |
| 10.3.2 | Targeting Self-Excluded Users | Sending promotions or outreach to individuals on self-exclusion lists. | Gambling |
| 10.3.3 | Cessation-Sabotage Re-engagement | Using data indicating a quit attempt to target users with re-engagement offers. | Tobacco/vaping, gambling |
| 10.3.4 | Loyalty Programs for Addictive Products | Rewards, points, or discounts for repeat purchases of addictive products. | Tobacco/vaping, alcohol, gambling |
10.4 Grief & End-of-Life Exploitation · 5 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.4.1 | Upselling During Grief | Pressuring grieving families through implied judgments about love or respect for the deceased to upgrade caskets, vaults, or services. | Funeral & death care |
| 10.4.2 | Immediate-Need Premium Pricing | Surge pricing or premium rates when families contact providers after a death. | Funeral & death care |
| 10.4.3 | Pre-Need Contract Opacity | Selling pre-need funeral contracts with unclear terms, hidden fees, and confusing cancellation. | Funeral & death care |
| 10.4.4 | Grief-Counseling Upsell Data | Using information from vulnerable grief conversations to target additional sales or share with marketers. | Funeral & death care |
| 10.4.5 | Compassionate-Use Denial | Refusing expanded access for terminally ill patients with no treatment alternatives, particularly when safety data exists. | Pharma/biotech |
10.5 Senior & Cognitive Vulnerability · 9 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.5.1 | Level-of-Care Upselling | Reclassifying residents to higher care levels without corresponding service increases. | Senior care/assisted living |
| 10.5.2 | Move-Out Cost Penalties | Excessive fees or forfeited deposits when residents transition to higher care or pass away. | Senior care/assisted living |
| 10.5.3 | Cognitive-Assessment Data Misuse | Using cognitive evaluations for marketing, insurance cross-selling, or level-of-care justification beyond care planning. | Senior care |
| 10.5.4 | Guardianship Overreach | Encouraging or facilitating guardianship arrangements that strip residents of decision-making autonomy beyond necessity. | Senior care |
| 10.5.5 | Communication Interception | Screening or restricting resident mail, phone calls, or digital communications. | Senior care, prison/corrections |
| 10.5.6 | Visitor Restriction Without Justification | Limiting family or advocate access without documented safety reasons. | Senior care |
| 10.5.7 | Activity Restriction as Punishment | Withholding activities, social engagement, or privileges as a behavioral management tool. | Senior care |
| 10.5.8 | Restraint Misuse | Using physical or chemical restraints beyond clinical necessity. | Senior care |
| 10.5.9 | Involuntary Discharge | Evicting residents without adequate notice, documented cause, or safe transition. | Senior care |
10.6 Crisis & Disaster Exploitation · 5 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.6.1 | Disaster Price Gouging | Exploiting urgent situations (storm damage, water emergencies) to charge multiples of standard rates. | Plumbing, home services, ride-hailing, grocery |
| 10.6.2 | Ransomware Crisis Pricing | Charging emergency premiums on incident response when organizations are under active attack. | Cybersecurity |
| 10.6.3 | Formula Pricing Exploitation | Increasing infant formula prices during shortages of medically necessary products. | Baby/children's products |
| 10.6.4 | Surge Pricing on Essential Mobility | Raising prices during natural disasters, mass shootings, or emergencies when people need transport. | Ride-hailing |
| 10.6.5 | Surge Pricing on Essential Delivery | Implementing dynamic delivery surges during storms, extreme heat, or emergencies when consumers most rely on delivery. | Food delivery |
10.7 Migrant & Visa-Dependent Coercion · 5 practices
Care+ Responsibility
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.7.1 | Visa-Dependent Worker Coercion | Recruiting workers under temporary visas with housing deductions, restricted mobility, or deportation threats if they complain. | Hospitality, agriculture, travel/tourism, defense |
| 10.7.2 | Document Confiscation | Confiscating documents, charging recruitment fees, or imposing terms that leave workers indebted. | Construction, agriculture, seafood |
| 10.7.3 | H1-B Cost-Arbitrage Staffing | Structuring staffing around visa-dependent workers unable to negotiate or leave. | Consulting |
| 10.7.4 | Undocumented Worker Threats | Employing undocumented workers at below-market wages with deportation threats if they report safety violations or wage theft. | Construction, home services |
| 10.7.5 | Migrant Recruitment-Fee Brokering | Hiring through labor brokers who charge fees, withhold wages, or impose contracts that create indebtedness. | Seafood, agriculture, construction |
10.8 Incarcerated Population Exploitation · 6 practices
Care+ Responsibility
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.8.1 | Inmate Communication Cost Gouging | Charging far-above-market rates for phone, video, and messaging through exclusive provider contracts. | Prison/corrections |
| 10.8.2 | Commissary Price Inflation | Marking up essential goods (hygiene, food, clothing) above retail within facilities. | Prison/corrections |
| 10.8.3 | Forced Labor Below Minimum Wage | Assigning incarcerated workers to jobs paying far below minimum wage under threat of disciplinary action. | Prison/corrections |
| 10.8.4 | Inmate Medical Care Denial | Systematically understaffing medical units, delaying treatment, or denying specialist referrals. | Prison/corrections |
| 10.8.5 | Inmate Medication Cost Inflation | Charging above-market prices for prescriptions or substituting cheaper medications without clinical equivalence. | Prison/corrections |
| 10.8.6 | Family Location Tracking via Inmate Metadata | Using communication metadata to surveil, locate, or profile family members outside the facility. | Prison/corrections |
10.9 Domestic-Violence Survivor Endangerment · 2 practices
Care+ Privacy
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.9.1 | Inadequate DV Survivor Protections | Failing to offer profile hiding, location masking, or block-list portability for users fleeing abusers. | Dating, social media |
| 10.9.2 | Image-Abuse Enablement | Allowing screenshots, scraping, or unencrypted message storage that enables revenge porn or harassment. | Dating, social media |
10.10 Patient Vulnerability During Treatment · 8 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.10.1 | Subscription Dark Patterns During Crisis | Using difficult cancellation flows or retention prompts when users are in acute distress. | Mental health |
| 10.10.2 | Waitlist Exploitation for Premium Tiers | Creating artificially long waitlists for standard service while offering immediate paid access. | Mental health |
| 10.10.3 | Therapist-Non-Compete Patient Disruption | Enforcing non-competes that prevent continuity of therapy after a clinician leaves a platform. | Mental health |
| 10.10.4 | Crisis Response Failure | Failing to maintain adequate crisis protocols, response times, or escalation pathways for suicidal ideation. | Mental health |
| 10.10.5 | Patient Targeting via Treatment Data | Sharing detailed treatment plans and financial assessments with healthcare credit companies for financing-product targeting. | Dental |
| 10.10.6 | Vulnerable-Population Trial Recruitment | Conducting trials in populations with limited capacity for informed consent or limited access to alternative care. | Pharma/biotech |
| 10.10.7 | Placebo Use Where Effective Treatment Exists | Using placebo controls when established effective treatment exists, exposing participants to unnecessary risk. | Pharma/biotech |
| 10.10.8 | Genetic Counseling Data Exploitation | Using or licensing genetic data for secondary commercial use without explicit consent. | Pharma/biotech |
10.11 Pet-Owner & Family Exploitation · 6 practices
Care
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.11.1 | Veterinary Emergency Care Upcharging | Inflated pricing tiers during after-hours or emergencies when owners have no alternative. | Veterinary, pet industry |
| 10.11.2 | Wellness-Plan Pressure | Bundling unnecessary services into prepaid wellness plans marketed as savings. | Veterinary |
| 10.11.3 | Anthropomorphic Marketing for Inappropriate Products | Using emotional bonds to sell products unsuited to animal needs (costumes, low-nutrition treats). | Pet industry |
| 10.11.4 | Economic Euthanasia Pressure | Refusing payment plans for low-income clients, forcing euthanasia decisions financially. | Veterinary |
| 10.11.5 | Late Pick-Up Penalty Exploitation | Disproportionate penalties for minor lateness in childcare without clear prior agreement. | Childcare |
| 10.11.6 | Deposit & Withdrawal Penalties | Large non-refundable deposits or excessive notice-period penalties that trap families financially. | Childcare |
11.12 Performance & Quality Management Abuse · 3 practices
Care+ Responsibility
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.12.1 | Performance-Review Weaponization | Using opaque performance review processes to justify predetermined attrition rather than genuine development. | Consulting |
| 11.12.2 | Credit Suppression | Failing to provide references, performance documentation, or skill verification that would help workers transition. | Staffing/temp |
| 11.12.3 | Credit / Byline Omission | Removing or omitting developer or creator credits from shipped products or published work for departing or freelance workers. | Gaming, media/journalism, music |
11.14 Moderator & Worker Trauma · 5 practices
Care+ Responsibility
| § | Practice | Description | Seen in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.14.1 | Moderator Mental-Health Neglect | Exposing content moderators to graphic, violent, or traumatic material without adequate support. | Social media |
| 11.14.2 | Data-Labeler Trauma | Outsourcing data labeling to workers exposed to traumatic content under poor conditions. | AI |
| 11.14.3 | Brain-Injury Concealment | Withholding or downplaying concussion diagnoses; pressuring athletes to return before recovery. | Sports/athletics, film/television (stunts) |
| 11.14.4 | Sexual-Assault Reporting Gaps | Failing to promptly report assaults to law enforcement; settling claims privately with NDAs. | Ride-hailing |
| 11.14.5 | Unsafe Working Hours | Scheduling shoots exceeding 14 hours, mandating turnaround under 8 hours. | Film/television |