California
in effect
7 checks relate to this framework
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Covers this jurisdiction's citation, effective date, scope and requirement
summaries. The 7 checks below carry their own dates, the
oldest of which is 2026-08-03. Nobody qualified to practise law has reviewed any of it — see about.
- Statute
- Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§17600–17606 (Art. 9), as amended by AB 2863, Stats. 2024, ch. 515.
- Official text
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&division=7.&title=&part=3.&chapter=1.&article=9.
- Effective
- The AB 2863 amendments carry a 2024 chapter. Secondary sources describe the amended requirements as reaching contracts entered into, amended or extended on or after July 1, 2025. [medium confidence — flagged for counsel]
- Applies to
- Businesses making an automatic-renewal or continuous-service offer to a consumer in California, including offers that begin free and convert to a paid term.
What it is summarized as requiring
- Automatic-renewal terms presented clearly and conspicuously, in visual proximity to the request for consent, before the consumer agrees.
- Affirmative consent to the agreement containing the automatic-renewal terms before the payment method is charged.
- An acknowledgment after the transaction containing the renewal terms and cancellation instructions in a form the consumer can retain.
- Cancellation available through the same medium the consumer used to sign up, so an online signup is described as requiring an online route to cancel.
- Free-to-pay conversions treated in the same way as paid subscriptions, with the terms of the conversion disclosed before consent.
What no outside scan can observe here
- The post-transaction acknowledgment, which is delivered after a purchase this scanner never makes.
- Whether a cancellation route inside an account can actually be completed.
Worth knowing
- California is the framework most of this scanner’s deterministic signals were written against, so it is the state where a report carries the most detail.
- Whether this framework requires a consent control dedicated to the renewal terms and separate from a terms-of-service checkbox is a practitioner reading rather than something the statutory text states in those words. The check that looks for one is related to California on that basis and is flagged for counsel.
Checks that relate to this framework
Detected automatically
| Check | Severity | Detected by |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic-renewal terms were not detected in the visible text presented alongside the consent action.
These frameworks are summarized as requiring the automatic-renewal terms to be presented clearly and conspicuously before the consumer agrees, in visual proximity to the request for consent.
ARL-DISCLOSURE-AT-CONSENT
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Drafted from 9 sources:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46
|
High
consent moment absence |
automatic
proximityToConsentAction renewalTermsProminence renewalTextOnlyInLinkedTermsIncludes a signal from the visual pass, which caps this check at medium severity. |
| Renewal text was found on the page, but its type size or its distance from the price and consent control was outside the thresholds this scanner checks.
The "clear and conspicuous" standard in these frameworks is summarized as reaching the legibility and placement of the disclosure, including its type size and its proximity to the price and the consent control.
ARL-DISCLOSURE-PRESENTATION
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Drafted from 3 sources:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A
|
Medium
tool chosen threshold |
automatic
disclosureFontSize priceAndIntervalNearCTA renewalTextOnPage |
| No dedicated, unchecked consent control for the renewal terms was detected separately from general terms acceptance.
Express affirmative consent to the automatic-renewal terms specifically is summarized as needing to be separate from acceptance of general terms and conditions.
ARL-AFFIRMATIVE-CONSENT
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Drafted from 2 sources:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html
|
High
consent moment absence |
automatic
prechecked separateConsentCheckbox |
| Trial or promotional pricing was detected without accompanying visible text describing the charge that follows it.
These frameworks are summarized as covering offers that begin free or discounted and convert to a paid term, with the terms of that conversion disclosed before the consumer agrees.
ARL-TRIAL-CONVERSION
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
|
High
consent moment absence |
automatic
trialConversionTerms trialLanguage |
| No link or control matching an online cancellation route was found on the pages this scan could reach.
These frameworks are summarized as requiring a subscription entered into online to be cancellable through the same online medium, without additional obstruction.
ARL-CANCEL-ONLINE-ROUTE
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Drafted from 9 sources:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46
|
Medium
non appearance |
automatic
onlineCancelPath |
| The fetched terms text describes cancelling by telephone.
Where a subscription was entered into online, these frameworks are summarized as requiring an online route to cancel, so a route available only by telephone is described as not meeting that requirement on its own.
ARL-CANCEL-TELEPHONE-ONLY
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
Drafted from 9 sources:
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46
|
High
consent moment absence |
automatic
phoneOnlyCancel |
Manual verification only
These relate to this framework but sit outside anything an outside scan can reach. They appear in every report as manual checks and are never counted as findings.
| Check | Severity | Detected by |
|---|---|---|
| Not observable from outside the signup flow.
A post-transaction acknowledgment is summarized as needing to include the renewal terms and cancellation instructions in a form the consumer can retain.
ARL-POST-TRANSACTION-ACK
Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03
Due again 2026-11-01.
|
Manual check
outside flow |
manual verification only
No signal can reach this. It is listed in every report and never counted as a finding. |
Other frameworks these checks relate to
A single observation frequently relates to several states at once. These are the other jurisdictions named by the same checks.
Every rule in the matrix · What this scanner cannot see · Run a scan scoped to California