FTC settles with Care.com for $8.5M for deception and cancellation challenges

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that Care.com, Inc., has agreed to a settlement of FTC claims that the child and older adult care gig platform has systematically deceived caregivers who were looking for jobs while failing to give families seeking care a simple way to cancel their paid memberships.

In its complaint, the FTC alleges that Care.com's marketing messages about both the number of jobs available on their site and the amount workers could expect to be paid were deceptive. The complaint also alleges that Care has used a number of unlawful tactics, sometimes referred to as dark patterns, to prevent consumers – both job posters and job seekers – from being able to cancel their subscriptions. When consumers try to cancel Care subscriptions, they must click through a number of unrelated links to find information about how to cancel. According to the lawsuit, consumers regularly complained about difficulties in finding the cancellation options, with many resorting to searching online for instructions on how to cancel.

Under the proposed settlement, Care.com must turn over $8.5 million to be used to refund consumers harmed by their practices, as well as requiring the company to be able to back up the earnings claims it makes and be honest about the number of jobs available on their site. They must also provide users with a simple cancellation method for any negative option subscriptions available on their website.