Prohibits unfair and unlawful business practices that deceive or mislead consumers in California.
Definition
Excerpt
As used in this chapter, unfair competition shall mean and include any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising and any act prohibited by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code.
Related cases
Noom Inc reached a settlement, having been accused of tricking customers into signing up for "risk-free" trial periods only to force them into automatic and costly renewals that were difficult to cancel.
Nintendo faces a class action lawsuit over allegedly compelling players to make in-game purchases by creating hurdles for non-buyers and employing fake limited-time offers.
Related deceptive patterns
The user is unknowingly enrolled in a recurring subscription or payment plan without clear disclosure or their explicit consent.
The user finds it easy to sign up or subscribe, but when they want to cancel they find it very hard.
The user wants to do something, but they are required to do something else undesirable in return.
The user is pressured into completing an action because they are presented with a fake time limitation.