Online dating company eHarmony will pay more than $2 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit brought by four California counties and the city of Santa Monica. In total, the company will pay up to $1 million to California customers who enrolled in eHarmony’s automatic subscription program between March 10, 2012 and December 13, 2016 and an additional $1.28 million civil penalty to the California communities that brought the lawsuit.
Pursuant to the Settlement Order, eHarmony is required to make several improvements to its business practices, including:
- Disclosing the terms of the automatic renewal offer in a clear and conspicuous manner before the subscription is fulfilled.
- Only charging a consumer for an automatic renewal service once obtaining affirmative consent to the automatic renewal term offers. Specifically, consent must be “obtained by an express act by the consumer through a separate check-box, signature, or other substantially similar mechanism.” The automatic renewal terms must be conveyed in a clear and conspicuous disclosure immediately above the check box and the disclosure cannot include any other information.
- Sending an acknowledgement with a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the automatic renewal terms. The subject line must identify the message as confirmation of the transaction.
- Providing a toll free number or e-mail address or other easy cancelation mechanism. Additionally, eHarmony must provide written notice of cancellation by email. All cancelations must be effective within one business day.
The eHarmony settlement follows on the heels of several settlements with companies promoting subscription serves, including the FTC’s settlement with AdoreMe last month as well as recent updates to the California Automatic Renewal Law and ongoing enforcement in that state. Advertisers offering subscriptions that automatically renew should review their advertising and cancelation procedures. Not only should offer terms be clearly and conspicuously communicated to consumers before they are charged, the terms of recent settlements suggest that advertisers should require consumers click a separate check box to obtain express consent and offer an easy, online cancelation mechanism.
For additional recommendations, please see our prior blog post on auto-renewals.
UPDATE
Crowell & Moring received a statement on the settlement from eHarmony:
“Since eharmony’s inception, we have endeavored to give appropriate contract notices and disclosures to our subscribers. We remain as committed today as we were 17 years ago to providing a high-quality user experience. Without any admission, we have cooperated with the government, which has previously launched similar investigations against a long list of eCommerce companies, and have chosen to settle to avoid the distraction and expense of protracted litigation. In collaboration with the government, eHarmony has implemented a new industry standard when disclosing terms in order to make the user experience even better. With the settlement now behind us, we look forward to continuing the important work of helping singles find enduring love.” – Ronald N. Sarian, Vice President & General Counsel, eharmony