FTC sues Amazon over tactics used to get Prime subscriptions

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the company of a “years-long effort to enroll consumers into its Prime program without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime.” The FTC said Amazon “used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.”

“Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. “These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike. The FTC will continue to vigorously protect Americans from dark patterns and other unfair or deceptive practices in digital markets.”

According to the complaint, Amazon made it difficult for customers to purchase an item without also subscribing to Prime. In some cases, consumers were presented with a button to complete their transactions. The button didn’t clearly state it would also enroll them in Prime.

Much of the complaint is still redacted, but the FTC said that it describes several opportunities Amazon had to prevent these allegedly coercive enrollments but chose not to make the changes. 

The FTC said getting out of a subscription was often too complicated, and Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would have made canceling easier. The process was called “Iliad” internally, a reference to the ancient Greek poem about the siege of Troy during the Trojan war.

The FTC also alleges that the company acted in bad faith throughout its investigation, taking steps to delay the probe. 

Amazon increased the price of Prime in 2022 to $139 a year or $14.99 a month. 

Amazon spokeswoman Heather Layman called the FTC claims “false on the facts and the law.” According to The Washington Post, she said the company makes it “clear and simple” to sign up for and cancel Prime.

Layman said the FTC never notified the company that the suit was coming, even as company staff engaged with regulators. 

“While the absence of that normal course engagement is extremely disappointing, we look forward to proving our case in court,” Layman said. 

In May, the FTC settled two lawsuits against Amazon. One lawsuit regarded the Amazon Alexa speaker recording children, and another regarded customer privacy and Amazon’s Ring home surveillance system. Amazon’s critics have been calling on the FTC to bring a broad antitrust lawsuit against the company. 

The FTC’s deep dive into Amazon is part of a broader agency strategy to use existing consumer protection and competition laws to address the power of Big Tech.

Over the last two years, the agency has been signaling that it intends to be more aggressive in penalizing companies that use sophisticated design techniques to trick customers into buying their products and encroaching on their privacy. 

The FTC has also sued internet phone company Vonage, video gamemaker Epic and Credit Karma over their alleged use of “dark patterns.” The Epic suit settled for $245 million, and the Vonage suit settled for $100 million.