Click-to-cancel: Difference between revisions

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The '''click-to-cancel''' (CtC) rule is a [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) rule, specifically [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-425/section-425.6 16 CFR Part 425.6], which requires that subscription services make it as easy to cancel the service as it was to sign up.<ref>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring</ref> This is designed to combat an anti-consumer practice, where a subscription service makes it very easy to sign up for a service, but requires the customer to jump through hoops to cancel the subscription. The law has been finalized and ~~came~~ into effect May 14, 2025.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-6</ref>

The '''click-to-cancel''' (CtC) rule is a [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) rule, specifically [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-425/section-425.6 16 CFR Part 425.6], which requires that subscription services make it as easy to cancel the service as it was to sign up.<ref>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring</ref> This is designed to combat an anti-consumer practice, where a subscription service makes it very easy to sign up for a service, but requires the customer to jump through hoops to cancel the subscription. The law has been finalized and was initially set to go into effect May 14, 2025.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-6</ref> On July 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit blocked the click-to-cancel provision, reasoning that the FTC erred by not first conducting a preliminary regulatory analysis of the rule's costs and benefits. The analysis must be conducted on any rules that impact the economy by more than $100 million. The FTC can still petition the Supreme Court to review the decision through October 6, 2025 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Fouse-Hopkins |first=Lindsay |date=2025-07-17 |title=Eighth Circuit blocks Click-to-Cancel Rule |url=https://www.clarkhill.com/news-events/news/eighth-circuit-blocks-click-to-cancel-rule/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-07-17 |website=Clarkhill.com}}</ref>

==How it works==

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*to fail to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative option feature and immediately halt charges

A "negative-option feature" is defined by the FTC as "a provision in an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services 'under which the customer’s silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the seller as acceptance of the offer'".<ref name=":0" /> In other words, it is a feature of a service, where once a subscription is initiated, the customer will be continue to be billed until they actively cancel the subscription.

A "negative-option feature" is defined by the FTC as "a provision in an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services 'under which the customer’s silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the seller as acceptance of the offer'".<ref name=":0" /> In other words, it is a feature of a service, where once a subscription is initiated, the customer will continue to be billed until they actively cancel the subscription.

The click-to-cancel rule is not limited to electronic services, as the name might suggest. It includes, but is not limited to "Interactive Electronic Media, telephone, print, and in-person transactions."<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/11/15/2024-25534/negative-option-rule#sectno-citation-425.1</ref> The cancellation mechanism must be "at least as simple as consent".<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1164</ref> The customer may not be required to interact with a representative, whether a real human or a chat bot, if the customer was not required to do so when they signed up for the service.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1166</ref> For services which were signed up for in-person, the seller must allow cancellation online or over the phone.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1168</ref>

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-The '''click-to-cancel''' (CtC) rule is a [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) rule, specifically [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-425/section-425.6 16 CFR Part 425.6], which requires that subscription services make it as easy to cancel the service as it was to sign up.<ref>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring</ref> This is designed to combat an anti-consumer practice, where a subscription service makes it very easy to sign up for a service, but requires the customer to jump through hoops to cancel the subscription. The law has been finalized and came into effect May 14, 2025.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-6</ref>
+The '''click-to-cancel''' (CtC) rule is a [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) rule, specifically [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-425/section-425.6 16 CFR Part 425.6], which requires that subscription services make it as easy to cancel the service as it was to sign up.<ref>https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring</ref> This is designed to combat an anti-consumer practice, where a subscription service makes it very easy to sign up for a service, but requires the customer to jump through hoops to cancel the subscription. The law has been finalized and was initially set to go into effect May 14, 2025.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-6</ref> On July 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit blocked the click-to-cancel provision, reasoning that the FTC erred by not first conducting a preliminary regulatory analysis of the rule's costs and benefits. The analysis must be conducted on any rules that impact the economy by more than $100 million. The FTC can still petition the Supreme Court to review the decision through October 6, 2025 <ref>{{Cite web |last=Fouse-Hopkins |first=Lindsay |date=2025-07-17 |title=Eighth Circuit blocks Click-to-Cancel Rule |url=https://www.clarkhill.com/news-events/news/eighth-circuit-blocks-click-to-cancel-rule/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-07-17 |website=Clarkhill.com}}</ref>
 ==How it works==
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 *to fail to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative option feature and immediately halt charges
-A "negative-option feature" is defined by the FTC as "a provision in an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services 'under which the customer’s silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the seller as acceptance of the offer'".<ref name=":0" /> In other words, it is a feature of a service, where once a subscription is initiated, the customer will be continue to be billed until they actively cancel the subscription.
+A "negative-option feature" is defined by the FTC as "a provision in an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services 'under which the customer’s silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the seller as acceptance of the offer'".<ref name=":0" /> In other words, it is a feature of a service, where once a subscription is initiated, the customer will continue to be billed until they actively cancel the subscription.
 The click-to-cancel rule is not limited to electronic services, as the name might suggest. It includes, but is not limited to "Interactive Electronic Media, telephone, print, and in-person transactions."<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/11/15/2024-25534/negative-option-rule#sectno-citation-425.1</ref> The cancellation mechanism must be "at least as simple as consent".<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1164</ref> The customer may not be required to interact with a representative, whether a real human or a chat bot, if the customer was not required to do so when they signed up for the service.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1166</ref> For services which were signed up for in-person, the seller must allow cancellation online or over the phone.<ref>https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-25534/p-1168</ref>