A fictional fitness app promotes seven free days but places the €240 annual conversion, date and cancellation route only inside a remote terms link.
Hidden subscription or forced continuityFitness app signupSubscription
This is an original fictional comparison. It depicts no real company and is not a legal finding or safe harbour.
Fitness app signupSubscription
Free trial converts to an annual charge
A fictional fitness app promotes seven free days but places the €240 annual conversion, date and cancellation route only inside a remote terms link.
Potentially problematicStart 7 days free
Start 7 days free. Annual conversion details are hidden in a remote document.. Displayed amount: €0: €0 today. Review recurring terms
Annual conversion details are hidden in a remote document.
Displayed amount€0€0 today
Review recurring terms
→
Neutral alternativeStart 7-day trial
Start 7-day trial. €240 per year from 18 September until cancelled online.. Review recurring terms. €0 today. Price, period and commitment, expanded: The price and material terms associated with “Review recurring terms” remain beside this choice.
€240 per year from 18 September until cancelled online.
Review recurring terms
€0 today
Price, period and commitmentThe price and material terms associated with “Review recurring terms” remain beside this choice.
Why the first version can mislead: The final commercial state diverges from the choice represented earlier in the journey. The problematic state records: “Annual conversion details are hidden in a remote document.” Review the timing and affirmative selection needed before “€0 today” changes price, product or recurring liability. A user may enter a large recurring liability without understanding the conversion.
What a fairer design does: State the later price, billing period, conversion date and exit method beside the trial action and in confirmation.
Show annotated differences (2)
Potentially problematic version
Review recurring termsIn “Free trial converts to an annual charge”, this element shows how hidden subscription or forced continuity can shape the decision.
Neutral alternative
Price, period and commitment, expanded: The price and material terms associated with “Review recurring terms” remain beside this choice.In “Free trial converts to an annual charge”, this element keeps the clearer alternative visible at the same decision point.
Review questions (3)
Which affirmative action authorises “€0 today”, and where is the resulting price, product or recurring state shown before commitment?
Place the compared prices, billing periods and material terms on one evidence sheet; where does it support “The offer creates a subscription, renewal or recurring liability”?
Which specific affirmative event creates the final commercial state, and could “Recurring terms clearly and prominently disclosed before assent” explain the observed outcome instead?
Side-by-side fitness app signup interface showing “Start 7 days free” and the clearer alternative “Start 7-day trial”.Provenance: Original hypothetical fitness app signup example created for this library; no real business, product or interface is depicted.
Complete pattern context
How this example relates to Hidden subscription or forced continuity
A transaction creates or continues recurring liability without effective, timely disclosure of the subscription, renewal and exit consequences. The label describes a recurring design mechanism; whether a particular implementation is harmful or unlawful depends on the complete journey, audience, evidence and rules within scope.
The full guide explains inclusion and exclusion criteria, harms, fair design principles, evidence questions and the relevant EU legal information layers. The example page isolates one scenario so it can be shared and discussed without reproducing the complete library on one page.
A fictional shop sells a €5 sample kit but treats the order as agreement to a €45 monthly delivery without naming a subscription beside the purchase button.
A fictional booking flow records a basic fare selection but the final action purchases a premium flexible fare without a new price-and-product confirmation.
Dark commercial patternsOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development · Secondary · checked 2026-09-14 · OECD Digital Economy Papers No. 336
Unfair Commercial Practices DirectiveEuropean Parliament and Council of the European Union · Primary · checked 2026-08-09 · Directive 2005/29/EC; CELEX 02005L0029-20220528
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