Technologies

Got ‘Tricked’ Into an Amazon Prime Subscription? You Could Be Owed Part of $2.5 Billion

Learn who qualifies for the Amazon FTC settlement and how much money you might receive.

If you’ve ever clicked a button on Amazon and accidentally signed up for Prime, or felt like you needed a map to find the cancellation page, you aren’t crazy. You were being played. The Federal Trade Commission just validated your frustration by hitting Amazon with a historic $2.5 billion settlement over its deceptive subscription tactics.

This isn’t just a slap on the wrist; it’s a massive payout. A whopping $1.5 billion is earmarked to refund eligible subscribers, with the rest serving as a civil penalty. Amazon is now legally required to stop the games, meaning they have to give you a clear, obvious option to decline Prime and make leaving the service as easy as joining.

Of course, Amazon isn’t admitting to any shady behavior. «Amazon and our executives have always followed the law, and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,» Mark Blafkin, Amazon senior manager, said in a statement. «We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.»

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Why did the FTC file a lawsuit against Amazon?

The FTC filed suit against Amazon accused the company of using «dark patterns» to nudge people into Prime subscriptions and then making it too hard to cancel. The FTC maintained Amazon was in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

«Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions,» the FTC complaint states.

Who’s eligible for Amazon’s payout?

Amazon’s legal settlement is limited to customers who enrolled in Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. It’s also restricted to customers who subscribed to Prime using a «challenged enrollment flow» or who enrolled in Prime through any method but were unsuccessful in canceling their memberships.

The FTC called out specific enrollment pages, including Prime Video enrollment, the Universal Prime Decision page, the Shipping Option Select page and the Single Page Checkout. To qualify for a payout, claimants must also not have used more than 10 Amazon Prime benefits in any 12-month period.

Customers who signed up via those challenged processes and did not use more than three Prime benefits within one year will be paid automatically by Amazon within 90 days. Other eligible Amazon customers will need to file a claim, and Amazon is required to send notices to those people within 30 days of making its automatic payments.

Customers who did not use a challenged sign-up process but instead were unable to cancel their memberships will also need to file claims for payment.

How big will the Amazon payments be?

Payouts to eligible Amazon claimants will be limited to a maximum of $51. That amount could be reduced depending on the number of Amazon Prime benefits you used while subscribed to the service. Those benefits include free two-day shipping, watching shows or movies on Prime Video or Whole Foods grocery discounts.

Customers who qualify for the payments should receive them by Dec. 24.Customers outside the US aren’t eligible for the payout.

Technologies

Formula 1 Fans Can Now Explore Race Circuits With Apple’s New Maps Guide

F1 fans can get revved up for the approaching season with a tech boost from Apple Maps.

If you’re a Formula 1 fan and have your iPhone handy, you might want to check out Apple Maps. Apple on Wednesday added a new guide for its Maps app showcasing the race tracks for next month’s Australian Grand Prix.

Users can explore a detailed, 3D version of Melbourne’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit directly in Apple Maps and find details for all 24 tracks of the season with the Formula 1 Tracks From Around The World guide. It can also be found on the Apple TV Formula 1 Channel.

Currently, the only location done up in 3D is the Albert Park map, where you can explore the F1 Pit Garage, stadiums and more. Apple will continue to add more 3D tracks throughout the year.

The updated maps include:

Grand Prix Elements: Kerbs are shown on the maps to match the real-life experience, along with grandstands and pedestrian footbridges, all in 3D and labeled. All 14 of the circuit’s turns are also labeled.
Pop-Up Locations: Attendees will easily find entrance gates, restrooms, water stations, first aid and merchandise stands. Walking paths are shown directly on the maps, with walking directions available for grandstands.
3D Grand Prix Circuit Landmarks: The Pit Building, Lakeside Stadium (Bob Jane Stadium), Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center, and the Finish Line are all prominently highlighted and showcased.
3D Melbourne Landmarks: Attendees looking to explore further can find several of Melbourne’s landmarks detailed in 3D in Maps.

Last year, Apple paid $140 million for exclusive F1 streaming rights in the US.

Technologies

Instagram Will Alert Parents if Teens Repeatedly Search for Self-Harm and Suicide Terms

The change applies to accounts using parental supervision tools.

Instagram will soon alert some parents if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period. Instagram owner Meta said on Thursday that it’s rolling out the new notifications to parents in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, with other regions to follow later this year.

Thursday’s update follows the 2024 introduction of teen accounts. It applies to parents using the platform’s optional parental supervision setting, which requires consent from both teens and their parents to participate. Parental supervision allows parents to see the accounts their teen follows, set a time limit for how long their teen can use the app and more.

If teens repeatedly make suicide-related searches, parents will receive alerts via in-app notifications and email, text or WhatsApp, depending on available contact information. In addition to informing parents of their teen’s searches, notifications will allow them to «view expert resources designed to help them approach potentially sensitive conversations with their teen,» according to Meta.

Meta said it would prompt an alert if a teen attempted to search for phrases promoting suicide or self-harm and phrases that suggest a teen wants to harm themselves. The company said its policy is to block searches for self-harm and suicide content and direct people to resources and helplines.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 27 #726

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 27, No. 726.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle was tough for me. Some of the answers are long and difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: It’s a little much

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Whoa, that’s plenty!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

LURE, HARK, HARKEN, LATE, SORE, ROSE, TEAL, LATER, GLUE, GLUED, PLUS, LESS, GLARE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

GLUT, EXCESS, SURPLUS, OVERKILL, REDUNDANCY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ENOUGHALREADY. To find it, start with the E that’s four letters to the right on the top row, and wind down and around.

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