"Click-To-Cancel": The FTC Releases Final Rule On Negative Option Features

Key takeaways

• Consumers must give express informed consent to the negative option feature separate from the rest of the transaction.
• There are four required disclosures about the negative option feature that must be immediately adjacent to the consent mechanism: (1) whether the consumer will be charged for the goods, if the charge will be recurring, and any increases in charged costs after a trial period; (2) each deadline by which a consumer must act to avoid being charged; (3) the amount and frequency of charges the consumer will incur unless they take steps to cancel; and (4) how a consumer can find the simple cancellation mechanism.
• Sellers utilizing negative option features must include a simple cancellation mechanism for the negative option feature that uses the same medium and is at least as easy to use as the original method of obtaining consent (i.e., "click-to-cancel").