DoNotPay explained

DoNotPay
Author:Joshua Browder
Operating System:iOS, Android
Language:English
Genre:Legal technology, chatbot

DoNotPay is an American company specializing in online legal services and chatbots. The product provides a "robot lawyer" service that claims to make use of artificial intelligence to contest parking tickets and provide various other legal services, with a subscription cost of $36 for three months.[1]

DoNotPay's effectiveness and marketing have been subject to praise and criticism.[2] In September 2024, the company received a $193,000 fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for falsely advertising the capabilities of its artificial intelligence (AI) services.[3] [4] The FTC also stated that the company never tested the legal accuracy of the chatbot's answers.

Services

DoNotPay started off as an app for contesting parking tickets. It sells services which generate documents on legal issues ranging from consumer protection to immigration rights; it states that these are generated via automation and AI.[5] The company claims its application is supported by the IBM Watson AI.[6] It is currently available in the United Kingdom and United States (in all 50 states).

DoNotPay states that its services help customers seek refunds on flight tickets and hotel bookings,[7] cancel free trials,[8] sue people,[9] [10] apply for asylum or homeless housing,[11] seek claims from Equifax during the aftermath of its security breach,[12] and obtain U.S. visas and green cards.[13] DoNotPay offers a Free Trial Card feature which gives users a virtual credit card number that can be used to sign up for free online trials (such as Netflix and Spotify). As soon as the free trial period ends, the card automatically declines any charges.[14] [15] DoNotPay also claims that its services allow users to automatically apply for refunds, cancel subscriptions, fight spam in people's inboxes, combat volatile airline prices, and file damage claims with city offices.[16] [17]

In 2021, DoNotPay raised $10 million from investors, including Andreesen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Tribe Capital, and others, reaching a valuation of $210 million.[18]

Reception

In 2016, Joshua Browder, the company's founder, told The Guardian that the chatbot had contested more than 250,000 parking tickets in London and New York and won 160,000 of them, although the newspaper did not appear to verify the claim.[19]

Browder's technology has received mixed reviews. For example, a blog post from The Guardian noted that it "just drafted an impressive notice under the Data Protection Act 1998 not to use my personal information for direct marketing."[20] Similarly, a writer with The American Lawyer noted that, "one of DoNotPay's chatbots helped me draft a strong, well-cited and appropriately toned letter requesting extended maternity leave."[21]

However, Legal Cheek tested the service in 2016 with "fairly basic legal questions" and noted that it failed to answer most of them.[22] Above the Law noted that the service may "be too good to be true" due to errors in the legal advice provided, noting that when dealing with "things as important as securing immigration status, which is one of the services DoNotPay promotes, mistakes can ruin lives." Above the Law ultimately recommended the service for "clear-cut issues like parking tickets or non-critical matters," while cautioning against its use for legal issues with higher stakes.[23]

In January 2023, Browder claimed that the organization would attempt to use DoNotPay live in court, but was forced to halt after being warned about the unlicensed practice of law. NPR wrote that "some observers" have had "mixed to shoddy results attempting to use its basic features", and noted that Browder, the company's founder, is known for attention-seeking stunts.[24]

Legal action

2023 class-action lawsuits

In March 2023, the company faced two class-action lawsuits, one alleging that it "misled customers and misrepresented its product"[25] and another that the company is practicing law without a license.[26] The parties in the first lawsuit, "reached a settlement in principle" without exposing the details of the settlement.[27]

The second, practicing law without a license lawsuit, was ultimately dismissed with Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel agreeing with DoNotPay, holding that the plaintiff law firm, MillerKing, had failed to establish standing because it had failed to allege that it has suffered any concrete injury.[28]

2024 Federal Trade Commission fine

In September 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an enforcement action against DoNotPay, alleging that the company "relied on artificial intelligence as a way to supercharge deceptive or unfair conduct that harms consumers[...]."[29] [30] For example, the company's advertising featured a quote supposedly from the Los Angeles Times which praised its services, but was actually from a high schooler's op-ed on the newspaper's "High School Insider" platform.[31] The FTC also stated that the company never tested the quality of its legal services or hired attorneys to assess the accuracy of the chatbot's answers.

In the proposed settlement, DoNotPay did not admit liability, but did agree to several penalties, including a fine of $193,000 and limitations on its future marketing claims.[32]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kumparak . Greg . 2021-09-09 . DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims . 2021-09-09 . . 2021-09-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210909210312/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/09/donotpays-robot-lawyer-can-now-help-report-potholes-or-fallen-trees-to-the-city-file-damage-claims/ . live.
  2. https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2020/01/donotpay-honored-with-aba-brown-award-for-access-to-justice-effo/
  3. Web site: Vasani . Sheena . 2024-09-25 . 'Robot lawyer' company faces $193,000 fine as part of FTC's AI crackdown . 2024-09-26 . The Verge . en.
  4. Web site: Mangan . Dan . 2024-09-25 . FTC cracks down on DoNotPay, others for 'deceptive AI claims and schemes' . 2024-09-26 . CNBC . en.
  5. News: Fox 5. Robot Lawyer: App allows you to sue anyone with press of a button. Jaclyn. Kelley. October 18, 2018. en. 2019-10-16. 2019-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20191016012118/https://www.fox5dc.com/news/robot-lawyer-app-allows-you-to-sue-anyone-with-press-of-a-button. live.
  6. News: The Mercury News. Stanford student's quest to clear parking tickets leads to "robot lawyers". Lisa M.. Kreiger. March 28, 2019. en. 2019-10-16. 2021-10-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20211006034322/https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/28/joshua-browder-22-builds-robot-lawyers/. live.
  7. News: Sharma. Ruchira. 16 September 2019. New app promises to automatically cancel subscriptions at end of a free trial period so you won't get charged. en. iNews.co.uk. 2019-10-16. 2019-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20191016012121/https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/free-trial-surfing-app-cancels-free-subscriptions-netflix-619055. live.
  8. News: Dreyfuss. Emily. July 7, 2019. This Clever New Service Auto-Cancels Your Free Trials. en. Wired. 2019-10-16. 2019-10-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20191022015612/https://www.wired.com/story/free-trial-card/. live.
  9. News: Haskins. Caroline. Oct 10, 2018. New App Lets You 'Sue Anyone By Pressing a Button'. en. Vice. 2019-10-16. 2020-02-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20200214123154/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bj43y8/donotpay-app-lets-you-sue-anyone-by-pressing-a-button. live.
  10. News: Quinn. Lindsey. October 17, 2018. Josh Browder's DoNotPay lets users 'swipe right' on court settlements and sue for $25k. en. The Hustle. 2019-10-16. 2019-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20191016012126/https://thehustle.co/donotpay-josh-browder-tinder-lawsuits/. live.
  11. News: Johnson . Khari . July 12, 2017 . DoNotPay bot expands its free legal services across the U.S. and U.K. . en . VentureBeat . live . 2019-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200624230645/https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/12/donotpay-expands-its-free-legal-services-across-u-s-and-u-k/ . 2020-06-24.
  12. News: 2017-09-12. Chatbot offers legal help to Equifax data breach victims. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-04-22. 2021-04-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210422122139/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41239513. live.
  13. News: Ambrogi. Robert. October 10, 2018. New Bots From DoNotPay Includes One That Lets You Sue In Any Small Claims Court At The Press Of A Button. en. LawSites. 2019-10-16. 2019-12-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20191201040251/https://www.lawsitesblog.com/2018/10/new-bots-donotpay-includes-one-lets-sue-small-claims-court-press-button.html. live.
  14. News: Dreyfuss. Emily. July 7, 2019. App that cancels subscriptions launches in UK. en. BBC. 2019-10-16. 2019-12-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20191206130339/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49688309. live.
  15. News: Virtual Credit Cards. DoNotPay. 2019-10-16. 2019-12-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20191230053004/https://donotpay.com/learn/virtual-credit-cards/. live.
  16. Web site: Kumparak . Greg . 2021-09-09 . DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims . 2022-09-18 . TechCrunch . en-US . 2022-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920170850/https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/09/donotpays-robot-lawyer-can-now-help-report-potholes-or-fallen-trees-to-the-city-file-damage-claims/ . live .
  17. Web site: Sawers . Paul . 2020-10-07 . DoNotPay's 'robo lawyer' now scans your emails to fight spammers, cancel subs, and get refunds . 2022-09-18 . VentureBeat . en-US . 2022-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171342/https://venturebeat.com/ai/donotpays-robo-lawyer-now-scans-your-emails-to-fight-spammers-cancel-subs-and-get-refunds/ . live .
  18. Web site: Simpson . Andrew G. . 2021-08-02 . Robot Lawyer DoNotPay, Valued at $210 Million, Plans to Target Small Businesses . 2022-09-18 . Insurance Journal . en-US . 2022-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171015/https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/08/02/625401.htm . live .
  19. News: Gibbs. Samuel. 28 Jun 2016. Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York. en. Guardian. 2019-10-16. 2020-02-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20200208195045/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/28/chatbot-ai-lawyer-donotpay-parking-tickets-london-new-york. live.
  20. Web site: 2017-07-16. Come friendly robots and take our dullest jobs John Naughton. 2021-04-11. the Guardian. en. 2021-05-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20210504031444/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/16/come-friendly-robots-and-take-our-dullest-jobs-automation. live.
  21. Web site: The DoNotPay Dilemma: Can Chatbots Provide Access to Justice Without a Lawyer?. ALM Law.com. 2017-07-17. 2023-02-02. 2023-01-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20230106210142/https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/almID/1202793181282/. live.
  22. News: 2016-01-15. Computer science student, 19, says legal profession should be 'very scared' of his new 'robot lawyer' - Legal Cheek. en-US. Legal Cheek. 2017-09-01. 2017-08-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20170831220857/https://www.legalcheek.com/2016/01/computer-science-student-19-says-legal-profession-should-be-very-scared-of-his-new-robot-lawyer/. live.
  23. Web site: Wilkins. Steph. DoNotPay Is the Latest Legal Tech Darling, But Some Are Saying Do Not Click. 2021-04-11. Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event. 12 October 2018. en-US. 2023-02-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20230202225805/https://abovethelaw.com/legal-innovation-center/2018/10/12/donotpay-is-the-latest-legal-tech-darling-but-some-are-saying-do-not-click/. live.
  24. News: Allyn . Bobby . 25 January 2023 . A robot was scheduled to argue in court, then came the jail threats . . 1 February 2023 . 30 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230130102114/https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1151435033/a-robot-was-scheduled-to-argue-in-court-then-came-the-jail-threats . live .
  25. Web site: Leffer . Lauren . 2023-03-13 . DoNotPay, the 'Robot Lawyer,' Is Being Sued . 2023-03-30 . Gizmodo . en.
  26. News: Merken . Sara . 2023-03-09 . Lawsuit pits class action firm against 'robot lawyer' DoNotPay . en . Reuters . 2023-03-30.
  27. Web site: Merken . Sara . Legal AI startup DoNotPay reaches settlement in customer class action . reuters.com . . 5 August 2024.
  28. News: Merken . Sara . 17 November 2023 . 'Robot lawyer' DoNotPay beats lawsuit by Illinois law firm . .
  29. Web site: 2024-09-25 . DoNotPay Case Summary . 2024-09-25 . ftc.gov . FTC Legal Library (Cases and Proceedings).
  30. Web site: Novak . Matt . 2024-09-25 . DoNotPay Has to Pay Up Over 'World's First Robot Lawyer' . 2024-09-25 . Gizmodo . en-US.
  31. Web site: Belanger . Ashley . 2024-09-25 . DoNotPay has to pay $193K for falsely touting untested AI lawyer, FTC says . 2024-09-26 . Ars Technica . en-us.
  32. Web site: 2024-09-25 . FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes . 2024-09-25 . ftc.gov.

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