In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.
Balancing the Scales: How to Use “Legitimate Interest” to Process Personal Data “Fairly”
In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.
Join SPB’s Privacy Team for Two Strafford Webinars in December
Cancel Culture: New Requirements for Automatic Renewal and Other Negative
2024 was an active year for regulation of customer contracts with “negative option” features. Generally, a “negative option” provision in an offer to sell products or provide services means that a customer’s silence or failure to take action to reject the terms of the offer is deemed by the seller as the customer’s acceptance of the offer terms.
Earlier in 2024, three states updated laws related to negative option provisions in customer contracts (together, the 2024 State Autorenewal Laws)
Then, on October 16, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the final version of its “Rule Concerning Recurring Subscriptions and Other Negative Option Programs” (FTC Final Rule). (We previously covered the FTC’s notice of proposed rulemaking for negative options on Privacy World here.) The Federal Register publication date for the FTC Final Rule is November 15, 2024. Whether the FTC Final Rule will survive the change in Administration is an open question, as discussed below.
Both the 2024 State Autorenewal Laws and FTC Final Rule include new or expanded obligations. When effective, the FTC Final Rule will preempt the 2024 State Autorenewal Laws (and the other similar state laws) to the extent they are “inconsistent” with its requirements. State laws that afford greater protection than the FTC Final Rule are not inconsistent with the FTC Final Rule. In other words, the FTC Final Rule sets a national “floor,” and states may add more consumer-protective obligations, as reflected in certain aspects of the 2024 State Autorenewal Laws described below.Continue Reading Cancel Culture: New Requirements for Automatic Renewal and Other Negative Option Offers
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Negative Option Rule (“Rule”), which proposes to substantially amend the existing Negative Option Rule and set higher standards for autorenewal promotions and sales than under existing federal or state laws and regulations, was published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2023, setting the clock ticking
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Negative Option Rule (“Rule”), which proposes to substantially amend the existing Negative Option Rule and set higher standards for autorenewal promotions and sales than under existing federal or state laws and regulations. If promulgated, the revised Rule will apply to many more businesses and scenarios than are currently subject to autorenewal regulation. Once the proposed Rule is published in the Federal Register, which will be shortly, interested parties have 60 days after the date of publication to comment on the proposed Rule, which covers all forms of so-called “negative option” marketing and sales in all media, including negative options sold in a business-to-business (B2B) context (think about autorenewal terms in business services contracts), for month-to-month auto-renewing terms (think about “no contract” cell, Internet, media or entertainment services, and even auto-renewing monthly residential and commercial real estate tenancies) and for both the sale of goods and services. Other notable additions include enhanced disclosure, consent, and cancellation requirements, as well as a powerful misrepresentation prohibition and annual reminders.
Continue Reading UNSUBSCRIBED! — FTC Proposes Substantial Amendments to the Negative Option Rule to Cover all Autorenewals, including B2B Services, and Add New Disclosure, Consent, and Cancellation Requirements
In case you missed it, below are recent posts from Consumer Privacy World covering the latest developments on data privacy, security and innovation. Please reach out to the authors if you are interested in additional information.
Legislatures, regulators, and enforcement agencies across the United States and in Germany have turned up the heat on subscription plans within the past year by updating their automatic renewal law (ARL). California and Germany have new ARL requirements starting July 1, 2022. Generally, an automatic renewal or negative option is a paid subscription plan that