New California law requires one-click subscription cancellations
California's Assembly Bill 2863 mandates one-click cancellation for automatic subscription renewals, effective January 1, 2025, simplifying the process for consumers and enhancing protection against complicated cancellation methods.
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A new California law, Assembly Bill 2863, mandates that companies offering automatic subscription renewals must provide a one-click cancellation option for consumers. This legislation aims to simplify the cancellation process for recurring subscriptions, such as streaming services and gym memberships, which often involve cumbersome procedures. Previously, California had stringent laws requiring online cancellation options, but companies could still complicate the process with multiple links or pages. The new law, effective January 1, 2025, will ensure that if a subscription can be purchased with a one-click method, cancellation must also be equally straightforward. The bill's co-author, Assembly Member Pilar Schiavo, emphasized that the law is designed to help Californians manage their finances better and protect them from unnecessary charges. Consumer advocacy groups have welcomed this change, arguing that it empowers consumers by making it as easy to cancel subscriptions as it is to sign up for them. The law will significantly impact digital service providers, including streaming platforms and fitness clubs, which have previously made cancellation difficult.
- California's new law requires one-click cancellation for automatic subscription renewals.
- The law aims to simplify the cancellation process for services like streaming and gym memberships.
- Effective January 1, 2025, it mandates that cancellation methods match the ease of subscription sign-ups.
- Consumer advocates support the law as a means to protect consumers from complicated cancellation processes.
- The legislation positions California as a leader in consumer protection regarding subscription services.
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16 commentsI live in France, and they do everything possible to make subscriptions hard to cancel - I signed up to my gym online, but if I want to cancel it I need to send their headquarters a physical letter in the post, and expect a 4-6 week processing time haha.
I think some companies have already complied with this law ahead of time.
Started by clicking on a website? There must be an unsubscribe button.
Sold at my doorstep? Next time your sales people try to sell me something, I can cancel with them. But I could also just go to any office/branch/shop and tell whoever works there that I hereby unsubscribe.
You get the idea.
Californian voters should just accept that an unregulated market is the only way to get any innovation at all.
It says, "A prominently located direct link or button which may be located within either a customer account or profile, or within either device or user settings."
I think where the interpretation that one-click sub == one-click unsub is from this passage:
"The ability to cancel or terminate an automatic renewal or continuous service pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) shall be available to the consumer in the same medium that the consumer used in the transaction that resulted in the activation of the automatic renewal or continuous service, or the same medium in which the consumer is accustomed to interacting with the business, including, but not limited to, in person, by telephone, by mail, or by email."
The idea being that one-click is a medium, which doesn't seem to be the intent here.
We should be targeting this law at the credit cards, not the companies: The credit cards should list all subscriptions in a single place on your credit card bill, and the credit cards should handle unsubscribe in a common, and consistent way.
From the geography that gave you GDPR when will we have mandatory one-click unsubscribe, with clear cut explanations of will happen, additional costs if existing, and when the contract ends.
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