Negative option marketing

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Negative option marketing or NOM, is a practice in which businesses proactively make changes that restrict users freedoms in ways that take the users silence or inaction to be acceptance of the terms set by a company.

How it works

A company like a gym may make it super easy to sign up online. But when it comes time to cancel your membership to change to a new gym the consumer later finds out that they have to certify mail the gym to cancel the same membership they signed up for online. While a company could implement a easy cancel option they proactively choose not to keep those who would just accept the cost outweighing the time spent to cancel.

Why it is a problem

Consumer Entrapment

By making the process as easy as possible weather it be creating an account or subscribing to a service users should have a say on if there account should be deleted or a subscription canceled by not providing these options to consumers they are effectively trapped for what they signed up for

Loss of ownership

Specific devices like cameras, watches, light bulbs etc... may require app activation to use something that should "just work" out of the box. But instead force you to download something you did not consent to when purchasing it

Privacy

With relating to accounts since you are not able to remove or delete them those companies may be actively selling that information that you have provided to them to other companies or brokers without your knowledge even if you decided you no longer wish to use the product the info will persist without your consent

Examples

LA Fitness making it easy to sign up for a membership but requires first class mail to cancel a subscription

DND Beyond allowing you to make an account online but force request via email to have a chance of your account being deleted by them having to provide additional information that was not necessary on account signup

DJI cameras requiring an app registration to be able to use the product you paid for