Good news for Californians fed up with tricky subscription services! Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new bill that will require companies to offer a straightforward, one-click option to cancel subscriptions. This new regulation, set to take effect in July 2025, ensures that consumers can easily opt out of subscriptions online, without jumping through hoops like calling customer service. The law is designed to tackle the frustration of confusing or hidden cancellation processes, making it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to start one.
What’s Happening & Why This Matters
The One-Click Cancellation Law
Beginning July 1, 2025, businesses operating in California will be required to provide a clear and simple way for users to cancel their subscriptions online. Under this new law, if a customer signed up for a service online, they must be able to cancel it online. This means no more being forced to call a toll-free number or engage in drawn-out retention calls just to cancel a service.
The key element of the law is that the cancellation option must be easy to find. It must include a “prominently located direct link or button” in the customer’s account or profile section, using language such as “click to cancel.” Companies will no longer be able to hide the option to unsubscribe in hard-to-find sections of their websites or apps.
For customers who still choose to cancel over the phone, companies can discuss retention benefits or the effects of cancellation. However, once a customer expresses their desire to cancel, businesses are required to comply without delay.
In addition to simplifying cancellations, the new law also mandates that companies must obtain “express affirmative consent” before auto-renewing a subscription or converting a free trial into a paid subscription. This ensures that consumers are fully aware and agree to any ongoing charges.
Protecting Consumers from Tricky Subscriptions
Consumers have long been frustrated by the complexities of canceling subscriptions, especially when the process is intentionally made difficult. Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, which sponsored the bill, said, “Consumers have had it with rampant automatic subscriptions where it is close to impossible to put a stop to something a consumer no longer wants.” Herrell emphasized that the process of canceling a subscription should be just as simple as signing up for one.
This bill comes as part of a larger effort to curb the practice of businesses trapping customers in subscriptions by making it excessively difficult to cancel. Adobe, for instance, has been criticized for requiring users to call customer service and pay hefty cancellation fees. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has even opened an investigation into Adobe’s cancellation practices.
This new law could mark the beginning of a larger shift. The FTC proposed a similar nationwide regulation in 2022, and with California leading the way, the one-click cancellation process could become a national standard.
TF Summary: What’s Next?
California’s new one-click subscription cancellation law is a game-changer for consumer rights, making it easier for people to opt out of services they no longer want. As California’s July 2025 deadline approaches, businesses will adjust their practices to comply with the new regulations. TF believe this new law prompts other states and potentially the federal government (and other countries), to follow suit with similar consumer practice laws. For consumers tired of tricky subscription traps, relief is on the way.