FTC, responding to PIRG and Consumer Reports letter, finds most smart products fail to disclose expiration dates

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a report on Tuesday that found 89% of smart products surveyed failed to disclose on their websites how long the products would receive software updates. When software support ends, consumers are stuck with a product that loses features or doesn’t work at all. The report follows a letter sent to the FTC in September by PIRG and 16 other groups calling on the commission to develop clear guidance to address “software tethering.”

Imagine buying laptop, phone, or washing machine, only to find that it stops working, not due to wear and tear, but because the manufacture remotely flipped a switch. Welcome to the world of “ownership expiration dates,” where the devices we buy come with hidden timers that can add paywalls or render them useless at the whim of manufacturers. Increasingly, consumers are faced with a lack of transparency on how long something will work before it expires— the new FTC report confirms this problem is widespread.

Smart products keep us in the dark

The FTC’s “Smart Device Makers’ Failure to Provide Updates May Leave You Smarting” report looked at software support information for 184 products “including smart phones, home appliances, health monitors, and fitness devices.” For about 89% of those products, the manufacturer provided no information on how long they would receive software support. PIRG found a similar lack of transparency for software support timelines for washing machines in “Smart” Washing Machines are Dumb. 

Manufacturers might be breaking the law

The FTC also provided legal guidance to manufacturers about how failing to provide this information could be a violation of warranty and deceptive marketing laws. 

Magnuson Moss Warranty Act

The report explains: “Depending on the facts, the failure to inform prospective purchasers about the duration of software updates for products sold with written warranties may violate the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. This law requires that written warranties on consumer products costing more than $15 be made available to prospective buyers prior to sale and that the warranties disclose a number of things, including, ‘a clear description and identification of products, or parts, or characteristics, or components or properties covered by and where necessary for clarification, excluded from the warranty.’”

The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive Acts or practices

Without transparent labeling of length of software support, or by taking away key features that were advertised, manufacturers might be violating the FTC Act by deceiving consumers.

The FTC writes: “Manufacturers marketing a device as having certain features and then subsequently failing to provide software updates needed to maintain those features raises concerns about consumer harm resulting from deceptive practices. A representation, omission or practice is deceptive and violates the FTC Act if it is material and likely to mislead a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances. Thus, if a manufacturer makes an express or implied representation regarding how long the product will function or be useable, it may be a deceptive practice if the manufacturer fails to disclose how long it will provide necessary software updates.”

This also applies to not providing software support to products that need updates to complete their basic functions. From the report, “…the failure to provide software updates or the failure to disclose the duration of software support raises concerns about harm consumers cannot avoid.”

Stuff should be designed to last

When our grandparents bought a washing machine it lasted a generation, but now “new and improved” models don’t last and lose features after updates stop. Technology has taken away our right to own the phones, laptops and appliances we’ve bought. When we don’t own what we buy, everything becomes disposable and we get stuck in a loop where products keep dying and we keep buying.

The first step to making stuff designed to last is knowing how long it will keep working before we buy it. That’s why PIRG supports repair scores and labels that make sure we know when tech we buy will “expire,” and stop receiving updates or support.