According to the FTC’s complaint, filed June 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Amazon knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime by using “manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.”
According to the FTC, the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Amazon Prime was more difficult for consumers to locate than the option to subscribe. “In some cases, the button presented to consumers to complete their transaction did not clearly state that in choosing that option they were also agreeing to join Prime for a recurring subscription,” the FTC said.
The FTC further alleged Amazon “knowingly complicated the cancellation process for Prime subscribers who sought to end their membership. The primary purpose of its Prime cancellation process was not to enable subscribers to cancel, but to stop them. Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would’ve made it easier for users to cancel Prime because those changes adversely affected Amazon’s bottom line.”
The FTC complaint alleged that Amazon’s executives “failed to take any meaningful steps to address the issues until they were aware of the FTC investigation,” and that “Amazon attempted to delay and hinder the Commission’s investigation in multiple instances.” 
Jaclyn Jaeger is a contributing editor at Compliance Chief 360° and a freelance business writer based in Manchester, New Hampshire.