The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). adopted a final regulation on Wednesday which requires businesses to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up:
The "click to cancel" regulation (PDF) requires online businesses to make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. The cancellation method should be “at least as easy to use” as the registration process. FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in an interview that the rule is an overdue response to a growing number of complaints from consumers about situations in which it is "remarkably easy to sign up for a subscription, but absurdly difficult to cancel."
“The regulation prohibits requiring consumers who have signed up through an app or website to go through a chat bot to cancel. For registrations, companies should provide the means to cancel by phone or online."
"The pandemic has brought to light exactly how businesses make people go through endless cycles," Khan said. Requiring cancellations while businesses were closed "really highlighted the absurdity of these practices," he said.