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I have been trying to get my state legislators to implement such a consumer law for over a decade. The federal proposal will likely be ineffective unless it ha
by efitz 2y ago
I have been trying to get my state legislators to implement such a consumer law for over a decade.
The federal proposal will likely be ineffective unless it has an individual cause of action. What that means is that the only way (IMO) such a law works is not if the government enforces it, but rather if any consumer can sue the company in small claims court for a reasonable judgment (eg $1000 or something). Now the company has to fix their ways or feel death from a million cuts, and the cost to defend likely exceeds the cost to pay.
The other things the law needs (it may have but the article wasn’t clear) are clarity and penalties for dark patterns.
For example, “as simple as it was to subscribe” needs to be WAY more detailed, eg “takes no more time for a reasonable person to unsubscribe than it did to subscribe” and “the user must be able to use the same communication channel or mechanism (eg web, mobile app, etc) used to subscribe, in order to unsubscribe”, and “at the time of subscription, unsubscribe instructions must be provided to the user via a persistent medium such as email”, and “the unsubscribe interface must be prominently discoverable on the web site or mobile application”, etc.
And any dark patterns or intentional violations need to make the recoverable amount subject to a multiplier.
I am happy that the government is tackling this but doing it through regulatory action is not likely to help much IMO; especially in light is the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Chevron deference, it’s likely not to last through legal challenges. (IANAL)
- qingcharles 2y agoI agree with the bit about individual cause of action, as long as it includes attorney fees too, as that is the way to go from having to file yourself, to getting juicy lawyers lined up to make bank (from my experience litigating FOIA). In fact, with FOIA in Illinois the only way to hurt a non-compliant public body is with the attorney fees[]. There is a civil penalty per violation, but it isn't paid to the litigant, but it is paid by the public body to the county. As one government lawyer said to me, "I don't care if I lose! I just write a check out to myself!" [] some of the lawyers I know who do this work agree to split their fees with the litigant as an incentive for them to see it through, which I don't think is technically legal, but it let's people keep the government honest and make some change for their effort