On March 11, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on negative option marketing. The ANPRM restarts the agency’s effort to regulate subscriptions and automatic renewals after the Eighth Circuit vacated the prior “Click to Cancel” rule, from the Biden administration era, on procedural grounds. Comments are due 30 days after Federal Register publication.

The ANPRM does not include draft regulatory text. Instead, the FTC poses broad questions to shape a future rule, including whether a new rule is even necessary or whether existing tools — such as consumer education, business guidance, and enforcement under current statutes — are sufficient. The agency also asks whether it should modernize the existing, narrow Pre-Notification Negative Option Rule or adopt an entirely new, more comprehensive rule that reflects today’s subscription and automatic renewal models.

Substantively, the FTC signals that key requirements from the vacated Click to Cancel rule are likely to remain central:

• Clear and conspicuous disclosure of material terms;
• Affirmative express consent to the negative option feature;
• A simple and easy-to-use cancellation mechanism; and
• Prohibitions on misrepresentations in promoting negative option plans.

To address the purported procedural shortcomings identified by the Eighth Circuit, the ANPRM requests extensive industry and economic data to demonstrate the “prevalence” of unfair or deceptive practices and to quantify the costs and benefits of various regulatory approaches. It also zeroes in on cancellation flows and “Save-A-Sale” practices, seeking detailed information on enrollment and cancellation times and rates, the performance of retention offers, and how these practices interact with state automatic renewal laws.

Why It Matters

The FTC — under the Trump administration — has continued to pursue enforcement under its existing authority and through the new ANPRM, emphasizing that negative option practices are a bipartisan concern. At the same time, states are steadily enacting and revising automatic renewal laws, creating a fragmented and evolving compliance landscape. Companies offering subscriptions, memberships, or other negative option plans should align their practices with FTC guidance and the most stringent applicable state laws to minimize regulatory and enforcement risk.