Amazon Sued By FTC For 'Handing' Prime Subscription To Users Without Knowledge

Retail giant Amazon has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly duping “millions of users” by enrolling them in the Amazon Prime premium service without their knowledge and making it overly difficult to cancel. The FTC has said Amazon "tricked" users into signing up for its Prime subscription programme and intentionally made the cancellation process difficult. According to the commission, the e-commerce giant has also violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act by using so-called dark patterns, or deceptive design tactics meant to steer users toward a specific choice, to push consumers to enroll in Amazon Prime without their consent or knowledge, says a report by CNBC. “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” FTC Chair Lina Khan was quoted as saying in a statement.