- ExpressVPN was struck by a collective appeal on “illegal” automatic renewal costs
- A Californian client accused ExpressVPN of automatically charged him with monthly costs without his consent
- The most popular VPN suppliers use a Automobile renewal system – A lawyer in practice alleys against California consumer law
In the United States, a customer continued the supplier VPN ExpressVPN on allegedly “illegal” automotive renewal costs.
The plaintiff Timothy Millar filed a collective appeal against ExpressVPN before the California court on June 13, 2025, accusing the company of automatically invoice him monthly costs without his consent. Millar seeks to represent himself and all other California consumers who have been accused of illegal automatic renewal costs at least once.
Despite some exceptions, almost all the best VPNs on the market have a similar automatic renewal system to manage user subscriptions. Another supplier, NordVPN, faces a legal case similar to the United States, because a law firm has already brought prosecution in the name of four complainants so far.
The trial against ExpressVPN concerns
As the trial claims, Millar bought a month from Virtual Private Network (VPN) software in September 2022, thinking that he was making a unique purchase.
However, after the expiration of his monthly plan, “without his knowledge of him and without his consent, ExpressVPN registered him for a monthly plan automatically renewing”, reads the prosecution, alleging that “this accusation was illegal and should be reimbursed”.
According to Miller’s lawyers, such behavior clearly contrasts with the supplier’s obligations under the California Automatic Renewal Act (ARL). The law, in fact, obliges companies to adopt auto-renewal payment systems to provide “clear and visible” disclosure on the automatic renewal plan and obtain an “affirmative consent” to register consumers. Something that – the trial claims – Expressvpn did not do “in almost all ways”.
In addition, ExpressVPN is accused of having violated the false law on advertising by disseminating misleading advertisements on automatic renewal nature of his plans.
Miller now requests a trial with jury and monetary damage for himself and the class proposed.
Techradar has approached ExpressVPN for comments, and a company spokesperson shared this written statement: “We are aware of the deposit concerning a subscription several years ago and have the intention of defending it. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the specific allegations made in this complaint.
“ExpressVPN has always prioritized transparency and giving users clear information on prices, billing and automatic renewal – this information is clear and very visible at each stage of the payment process.
“As a cybersecurity business, offering uninterrupted protection is important for our customers. This subscription model guarantees that customers get the protection they need, without fault, on their devices. Customers can automatically deactivate at any time via their account dashboards or by contacting assistance.
“We remain focused on providing value to our users; ensuring us to maintain control of their digital confidentiality.”
Is it time to abandon the automatic renewal VPN plans?
As mentioned above, NordVPN is also faced with a continuation of illegal and misleading “self-renewal”.
The law firm Palikovic Wittels Mcinturff has already presented legal complaints on behalf of four former NordVPN customers since April 2024 – and has been urging all NordVPN users who were billed for a subscription that they did not want to appear.
The same law firm previously opened surveys on self-registration registration practices against ExpressVPN, alongside Proton VPN and private Internet access (PIA). However, lawyers did not have any prosecution against these providers.
Although it is still early to find out if these current collective appeals will modify how VPN suppliers manage once for all user subscriptions, there are already some exceptions on the market for which you can opt instead of locating yourself in an automatic renewal plan. Mullvad VPN, which has ax all recurring subscriptions in 2022 in the name of user confidentiality, is one of them.
