Maureen Stewart and Aaron Maguregui Discuss FTC’s ‘Click to Cancel’ Proposal

Foley & Lardner LLP Partner Maureen Stewart and Senior Counsel Aaron Maguregui are quoted in the Corporate Counsel article, “FTC’s ‘Click to Cancel’ Proposal Escalates Legal Peril for Sellers,” discussing a rule proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which aims to make it easier for customers to cancel subscriptions and memberships.

The FTC “is looking to even the playing field between company and consumer,” Maguregui said. “Companies must ask whether their off-boarding workflow is as seamless as the onboarding workflow. Hiding the cancel button on a webpage or forcing a consumer to jump through hoops to cancel their subscription could be met with stiff penalties and the potential for reputational damage.”

Stewart suggested that companies audit their cancellation policies to confirm compliance, and emphasized that an audit should include actually testing the process for its ease of use. She noted that companies should actively monitor customer complaints to identify issues with their cancellation process. “Having active compliance steps/controls provides robust evidence of compliance, as opposed to simply having passive policies,” Stewart explained.