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Direct-to-consumer (“DTC” or “D2C”) e-commerce businesses have unique legal needs and, as such, need unique DTC e-commerce attorneys like the ones at Revision Legal. As we say, we understand D2C businesses because we are one (even though our product, of course, is delivered in conference rooms, board rooms, and courtrooms).
Being DTC means significant additional layers of legal issues that must be successfully navigated. As one example, consider consumer data privacy and protection laws. Unlike many online businesses, DTC e-commerce businesses are collecting consumer data — if only payment, shipping, billing, and related data. All data of that type is now regulated and is becoming, increasingly, heavily regulated as more and more States enact various forms of data protection/privacy laws. Among other things, these laws regulate with whom you can share such data, to whom you can sell and transfer such data, and create a long list of consumer rights including the rights to know what data is collected, by whom, for what business purposes, to “be forgotten” (the right to have data deleted), and more. These statutes require consumer notices and consents which must comply with the statutes. In addition to other things, your DTC business now needs to formulate and write a company policy on consumer data retention and destruction. In addition to these general privacy protection statutes, DTC e-commerce businesses must comply with more specifically targeted statutes like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
Further, all of this data collection also triggers laws and statutes with respect to data cybersecurity. A leak, a hack, or an unauthorized access to sensitive consumer data will have an enormous impact on your DTC business.
Further, as a DTC business, since you are in control of social media and other digital direct marketing channels, your business is probably collecting a lot more data than you might otherwise think. Tracking software and targeted advertising are gaining increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators.
Further, since a DTC business encompasses the range from manufacturing to delivery of the product, other statutory and regulatory regimes are implicated such as laws relating to packaging, labeling, and marketing. As an example, DTC e-commerce businesses must comply with regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission. The statute involved — the Federal Trade Commission Act — prohibits false and/or deceptive advertising and business practices. This includes prohibiting false and misleading descriptions of products and other material facts, false claims, false/deceptive marketing, and more. Is your DTC e-commerce business using compensated social media influencers? If so, are your influencers disclosing the compensation and disclosing it prominently? If not, then your DTC business and your influencers may be running afoul of FTC regulations.
As another example, DTC e-commerce businesses must comply with regulations promulgated under the federal CAN-SPAM Act passed by Congress in the early 2000s. This act regulates email marketing. Among other things, marketing emails cannot contain false or deceptive headers or email subject lines, must be identified as marketing, must contain company location information, and have an easy-to-use opt-out or “unsubscribe-me” option.
These are just a few of the legal issues that are unique to DTC e-commerce businesses. There are, of course, an equal number of legal issues that face DTC e-commerce businesses that are not unique to the direct-to-consumer marketplace. These include:
Contact the DTC E-Commerce Attorneys at Revision Legal For more information, contact the experienced DTC E-Commerce Lawyers at Revision Legal. You can contact us through the form on this page or call (855) 473-8474.
State consumer data privacy laws now cover the majority of the U.S. population. As of 2025, comprehensive data privacy statutes are in effect in California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), Texas (TDPSA), Indiana (ICDPA), Montana, Oregon, and Iowa, with additional states continuing to enact legislation. For a DTC e-commerce brand selling nationally, compliance is not optional — it is an ongoing legal obligation with real penalties.
The practical requirements across these statutes share common elements: you must publish a privacy policy disclosing what categories of personal data you collect, the purposes for which you process that data, and the third parties with whom you share it. Consumers in covered states have the right to access their data, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, and opt out of the sale of their personal data and targeted advertising. Your DTC brand must have a mechanism — typically a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link — to receive and process these requests within statutory deadlines (generally 45 days).
The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) added the concept of “sensitive personal information,” which includes precise geolocation, genetic data, health data, and data about racial origin, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. DTC brands that collect any sensitive personal information face additional obligations: consumers have the right to limit the use and disclosure of their sensitive personal information, and you must provide a specific “Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information” opt-out link if you share or use that data for purposes beyond the narrow exemptions the statute allows.
DTC brands frequently rely on influencer marketing and social media advertising to reach consumers directly. The Federal Trade Commission’s updated Endorsement Guides (16 C.F.R. Part 255), revised in 2023, impose clear disclosure requirements on both brands and the influencers they compensate. “Compensation” is broadly defined — it includes not just cash payments but free products, discounts, commissions, and any other material benefit. If a DTC brand provides an influencer with a free product in exchange for a review or post, that influencer must clearly disclose the relationship.
Disclosures must be clear and conspicuous — not buried in hashtags, not hidden at the end of a caption, and not in small print. The FTC has issued warning letters and brought enforcement actions against brands and influencers for inadequate disclosures, and the updated Guides give the FTC explicit authority to seek civil penalties for first-time violations. A DTC brand’s compliance program should include written influencer agreements that require proper disclosure, monitoring of influencer posts to confirm compliance, and a process for correcting non-compliant content.
DTC brands selling subscriptions — subscription boxes, replenishment programs, auto-ship arrangements — face a distinct regulatory regime. The FTC’s Negative Option Rule, significantly strengthened in 2023, requires that subscription terms be clearly disclosed before the consumer is charged, that cancellation be as easy as signing up, and that consumers receive confirmation of subscription terms at the time of purchase. Several states — most notably California under the Automatic Renewal Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17600 et seq.) — impose additional requirements, including mandatory reminder notices before trial periods convert to paid subscriptions.
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