The FTC has been in the tech news a lot lately. You’ve probably read about one of the US commission’s lawsuits against big names like Amazon or for the “surveillance” it maintains over AI companies. In addition to trying to ensure a fairer market for all participants, the body seeks a deception-free shopping and subscription experience for consumers. The FTC’s “Click To Cancel” initiative is clear proof of this.
For a long time, people have been exposed to shady commercial practices of all kinds. The main goal of these practices is to prevent people from unsubscribing to a service or to try to take their money for as long as possible. For example, there were services that did not offer an option to unsubscribe or hide it. There were also cases of “add-ons” that were added to the customer’s bill without making it clear. Some companies even required you to call a customer service agent to unsubscribe.
These are the FTC’s “Click To Cancel” rules
These types of practices have been on the FTC’s radar for a while now. The organization was working on a rule to regulate the processes of unsubscribing to services. Basically, the FTC initiative sought to make canceling a subscription to a service as simple as subscribing to one online. Finally, the agency announced finalization of the set of rules that American service providers must follow. Lina Khan, chair of the FTC, shared the new requirements on X, and you can check them out below:
While the FTC was working on “Click To Cancel,” it was also handling individual complaints about these types of practices. Adobe received a fine this year for its unsubscribe policy that includes exorbitant cancellation fees. In 2023, the agency sued Amazon for practices that made it difficult to unsubscribe from Prime subscriptions. Hopefully, the new rules will lead all service providers to eliminate such policies and offer more transparent terms of use.