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Amazon settles FTC lawsuit over deceptive Prime subscription practices

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1 unique sources, 1 articles

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Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it employed dark patterns to enroll millions of users in Prime subscriptions and made cancellation difficult. The settlement includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to approximately 35 million affected consumers. The FTC's lawsuit, filed in June 2023, accused Amazon of violating the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act by using manipulative tactics during the checkout process and implementing a complex cancellation procedure. The FTC's investigation revealed that Amazon's practices included enrolling users in Prime without their explicit consent and making it challenging to cancel subscriptions. Internal documents showed that Amazon executives were aware of these issues, with some describing the subscription process as 'a bit of a shady world' and the unwanted subscriptions as 'an unspoken cancer.'

Timeline

  1. 25.09.2025 19:21 1 articles · 4d ago

    Amazon settles FTC lawsuit over Prime subscription practices

    Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations of using dark patterns to enroll users in Prime subscriptions and making cancellation difficult. The settlement includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to approximately 35 million affected consumers. The FTC's lawsuit, filed in June 2023, accused Amazon of violating the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act by using manipulative tactics during the checkout process and implementing a complex cancellation procedure.

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