EU forces Amazon to make it easier to cancel Prime subscriptions in Europe

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The European Commission said that customers in Europe will be able to cancel their Prime subscription in two clicks. The changes that were implemented as of July 1st should bring an end to the multiple pages that Amazon has used in the past to make the cancellation process more difficult.

The European Commission says the changes apply to the EU. The UK left the former at the beginning of 2020 and will benefit from the two-click process. When contacted for comment, a spokesman for Amazon said it has no changes to announce at the moment.

Image: European Commission

Bradley Mattinger said in an email that customer transparency and trust are priorities. We made it easy for customers to sign up for or cancel their Prime memberships. We listen to feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience.

Following a complaint by EU consumer groups including the Norwegian Consumer Council, Amazon has agreed to make changes. The report states that the multiple pages users have to scroll through to cancel a subscription aremanipulative design techniques.

Screenshots: Amazon

The EU says that Amazon needs to change its process to comply with the directive. Amazon had previously agreed to change its web interface to label the cancel button more clearly and shorten distractive text, but now it says it will shorten this explanatory text even further. Changes will be made across multiple devices.

The Commissioner for Justice said that consumers need to be able to exercise their rights. There is one thing that is clear, and that is that dark patterns must be banned. I am happy that Amazon will simplify their practices to make it easy tounsubscribe.

Future EU legislation could make it harder to use userinterfaces like these. The Digital Services Act is expected to include explicit prohibitions related to the use of dark patterns. After being voted into law, the DSA is expected to come into force from January 1st of the following year.