NCL Urges FTC To Revive Click To Cancel In New Proceeding
Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829
Washington, DC — Yesterday, the National Consumers League (NCL), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) submitted comments in response to a renewed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) effort to update its 1973 Negative Option Rule. The three public interest organizations urged the agency to fully address the modern subscription environment, including requiring subscription cancellation to be as easy as signing up, addressing unwanted conversions of free trials into paid subscriptions, and requiring notice consumers before each recurring charge.
“Click to cancel is commonsense policy, plus its extremely popular,” said NCL Senior Public Policy Manager Eden Iscil. “The FTC is doing the right thing in refreshing its outdated Negative Option Rule. Now we need to make sure the FTC doesn’t hold back from using its full authority to protect the public from predatory business practices. At a minimum, updates to the rule should include a click to cancel component.”
In 2024, the FTC had finalized a modernization effort for the antiquated Negative Option Rule, including a “click to cancel” provision requiring cancellation to be as easy as signing up. A panel of federal judges had struck down the updated rule in 2025 on procedural grounds. The Commission’s 2026 initiation of a new regulation on negative option plans provides the agency with an opportunity to revive the Click to Cancel Rule as finalized in 2024, but the FTC has not yet confirmed that it intends to do so.
NCL, CFA, and NCLC were extensively involved in the promulgation of the 2024 Click to Cancel Rule, including filing an amicus brief to support the regulation in the court. The FTC’s 2026 rulemaking effort on negative option plans comes after CFA and the American Economic Liberties Project submitted a formal petition for the FTC to revive the Click to Cancel Rule, which was supported by NCL.
NCL, CFA, and NCLC’s full comments in the proceeding can be found here.
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
