Material terms not buried in fine print or behind links
Why it matters
The FTC's 'clear and conspicuous' standard for negative option disclosures has a functional definition: a reasonable consumer must notice and understand the terms in the normal course of browsing. Disclosing auto-renewal in 10px gray footnote text, behind a collapsed accordion, or inside a linked Terms of Service satisfies none of that standard. Both FTC Negative Option Rule (2025) and California ARL treat buried disclosures as equivalent to no disclosure — the location and presentation are part of the legal compliance, not just the presence of the text.
Severity rationale
Medium because buried-but-present disclosure creates regulatory exposure and chargeback risk, but a detectable fix (CSS and placement changes) avoids the full-enforcement triggers that absent disclosure attracts.
Remediation
Move subscription disclosures to inline body text adjacent to the CTA, meeting minimum readability thresholds. Replace buried footnotes with a paragraph immediately below the subscribe button in components/PricingCard.tsx:
{/* BEFORE — fails clear-and-conspicuous standard */}
<button>Subscribe</button>
<p style={{ fontSize: '10px', color: '#999' }}>* See <a href="/terms">terms</a> for billing details</p>
{/* AFTER — meets FTC standard */}
<button type="button">Subscribe — $29/month</button>
<p className="text-sm text-gray-700 mt-2">
Billed monthly. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime from account settings.
</p>
Minimum thresholds: font-size ≥12px, color contrast ≥4.5:1 (WCAG AA), placement within 32px of the CTA, no interaction (hover, click, expand) required to reveal the text.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Subscription & Auto-Renewal Compliance Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
External references
- external · ftc-negative-option-rule-2025 — FTC Negative Option Marketing Rule (2025) — clear and conspicuous standard for material terms
- external · california-arl — California Automatic Renewal Law (Bus. & Prof. Code §17601) — clear and conspicuous presentation
- external · ftc-dot-com-disclosures-2013 — FTC .com Disclosures (2013) — online advertising disclosure standards for clear and conspicuous
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from subscription-compliance·automated