Sponsors (12)
The bill increases consumer protections and enforcement against deceptive auto-renewals and dark-pattern free-to-paid conversions, improving notice, consent, cancellation, and refund rights — but it raises compliance costs, enforcement exposure, and potential price or choice impacts for businesses and consumers.
Consumers with subscriptions or free trials will receive conspicuous renewal disclosures and must be given simple online and toll-free cancellation options, reducing surprise charges and unwanted renewals.
Consumers must give express, informed consent before annual renewals or before free-to-paid conversions, and violations can void renewals and require full refunds, giving stronger financial protection against unexpected charges.
Consumers and businesses gain clearer enforcement and regulatory clarity because the FTC is empowered to use full unfair-or-deceptive-act authorities and must adopt rules under the APA, supported by statutory definitions (e.g., 'dark patterns', 'negative option feature') to address deceptive renewal and UI practices.
Small businesses and other sellers will face increased compliance costs to implement conspicuous notices, consent flows, and simple cancellation mechanisms, raising administrative and IT expenses.
Firms that fail to comply face increased legal and financial exposure because violations can void contracts and trigger full refunds, especially combined with expanded FTC enforcement powers.
Some businesses may stop offering free trials or automatic-renew options or raise prices to cover compliance and refund risks, which could reduce consumer choice and raise costs for users.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires clear disclosures, express informed consent, and easy cancellation for automatic renewals and free-trial conversions; gives the FTC enforcement authority.
Official title: Provide for automatic renewal protections, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 14, 2025 by Christopher Van Hollen · Last progress July 14, 2025
Requires sellers to clearly disclose and get a consumer’s express informed consent before charging for subscriptions that automatically renew or convert free trials into paid plans, bans consent obtained by “dark patterns,” and mandates simple, easy cancellation methods. The Federal Trade Commission enforces violations as unfair or deceptive acts, and noncompliance voids renewals and triggers refunds; the rules take effect one year after enactment.