All recurring subscriptions must now make it easy to cancel, no matter how you signed up

The Federal Trade Commission has updated its rules for recurring subscriptions, making them apply to all types of negative option programs, regardless of how they were offered. This means companies must now provide clear ways for customers to cancel, as easy as it was to sign up.

For decades, companies have used 'negative option' billing to make it easy to sign up for a service, but hard to cancel. This rule change means that if you can sign up online, you must be able to cancel online. It closes a loophole that allowed companies to use different cancellation methods for different enrollment channels, often forcing customers to call a specific number or send a letter to stop recurring charges.