Philosophy and Ethics

CleverSets Core Values

The list below represents the core values by which all decisions should be made.

• The company exists for the mutual benefit of its customers, employees and owners.
• The company's success depends on the success of the employees, and so we will make every possible effort to hire people with the skills and attitude to help other employees succeed.
• We will NOT hire people unless we can be confident that they are a good fit for the long-term.
• We recognize that people are our most valuable asset, and will make every effort to retain employees when times are tough financially.
• We will be LOYAL to our employees, and layoffs will only occur as a last resort, even if that results in financial pain for owners and executives.
• We define success as enabling a good life for employees and owners while providing useful and positive products and services to our users and society in general.
• We will NOT allow our products and services to be used to spread hate or misinformation.
• We will encourage curiosity and learning by integrating features that highlight science, technology, engineering, math and the arts.
• We will respect the privacy of our users, and recognize that they should control how their data is used.
• When a potential conflict of interest arises between the good of our users and our financial interests, we will place our users interests above our own.
• We will do our best to support our users and resolve issues or complaints quickly and to their satisfaction, but we will not allow users to abuse our employees or systems.

• We will never use "dark patterns", which are techniques for manipulating users into doing things they wouldn't otherwise do. Below are some examples; see which you recognize:

  • Confirmshaming — guilt-tripping language on the opt-out path (e.g., "No thanks, I don't care about saving money").
  • Roach motel — making sign-up effortless but cancellation deliberately hard, hidden, or buried in support tickets.
  • Hidden costs — fees, taxes, or shipping that only appear at the final checkout step, after the user has invested time.
  • Forced continuity — silent auto-renewal of a free trial or subscription with no advance warning or easy off-ramp.
  • Sneak into basket — adding extras (warranties, donations, "recommended" items) to the cart by default, requiring the user to opt out.
  • Trick questions — confusing toggle labels, double negatives, or misleading defaults that flip the meaning of a checkbox.
  • Misdirection — visually steering attention toward what the company wants the user to click instead of what the user is trying to do.
  • Privacy zuckering — coercing users to share more personal information than they intended through opaque settings or all-or-nothing choices.
  • Disguised ads — paid content styled to look like organic results, recommendations, or editorial.
  • Nagging — repeated prompts, modals, or notifications until the user gives in just to make them stop.
  • Fake urgency — fabricated countdown timers or scarcity warnings ("only 2 left!") meant to pressure a quick decision.
  • Obstruction — making the path you don't want users to take artificially harder (extra clicks, dead-ends, hidden buttons) than the path you do.