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Cable Firms to FTC: We Shouldn’t Have to Let Users Cancel Service With a Click (www.wired.com)

submitted 9 months ago by dantheclamman@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world 83 points 9 months ago (3 children)

By law, anything should be a one click to cancel service, instead of the maze they send you through.

Xbox live, gyms, etc.

[–] doctortofu@reddthat.com 55 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Or, it should be exactly as difficult/complicated to cancel as to sign in. Want a 15-step cancellation process involving phones, faxes and a blood offering? Gotta require all that to sign up too!

[–] Buttons@programming.dev 29 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I think a "let the world burn" approach to consumer agreements, like EULAs and cable TV contracts, would be interesting.

Require users to fully read every word of the contract out loud, on video, 4 times for everything they agree to.

"But it would take too long if consumers had to read our 23 page contract, they'd just give up and not sign up at all!!1"

Hmm, let's think about that...

[–] bleistift2@feddit.de 26 points 9 months ago (2 children)

German consumer protection FTW

The Fair Consumer Contracts Act will in future introduce a mandatory 2-step termination process […]. Wherever the consumer can conclude a subscription contract against payment, the provider should also give the consumer the opportunity to terminate at the same point. […A] cancellation button should be included on such registration pages for memberships at the first stage (with the wording “Cancel contracts here”). This “first” cancellation button should then lead to a confirmation page on the second level, where the respective user is identified and the consumer can effectively send the cancellation (i.e. with the wording “Cancel now”).

The law (German): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__312k.html

[–] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure this law applies to the whole EU though

[–] ruplicant@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

i really don't think so. i hope it will be so in the future

[–] Sinupret@feddit.de 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I was pretty sure that there is something and a lot of searching finally led me to the "Unfair Commercial Practices Directive" from 2005. There also is a guidance to that directive from 2021 that is found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021XC1229(05)

Section 4.2.7 (dark patterns) is what is interesting for this topic. In the paragraph at the end of the section it includes the sentence:

unsubscribing from a service should be as easy as subscribing to the service

So it appears that the EU intended it that way but because it's only a directive, implementation differs by country. I also didn't see anything about being able to cancel in the same way you subscribed(e.g. that they can't force you to call or send a letter if you subscribed online), but afaik german law has a ruling like this.

Edit: I took so long to write this and find the links that I forgot the german law was the reason for the comment I answered...

[–] Mr_Blott@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Under the GDPR, it must be “as easy to withdraw as to give consent”. You must make it very easy for people to unsubscribe: one or two clicks at most

[–] bleistift2@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago

I’m not sure how the GDPR would apply to a service subscription. While the service is running, the companies have legitimate interest to keep your data, so you can’t have it removed.

[–] tormeh@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not sure how well this has worked in practice. Lots of bad cancellation proceedures last time I had to do it

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

The law was only introduced less than 1½ years ago. It takes time for this to trickle through all layers, but things are getting better.

[–] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Yeah, these services don't have to add much friction to trap vulnerable folks like the elderly. Obscure the cancel button under a couple menu levels and dark patterns and they have people trapped for life. It can be very insidious