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DoNotPay
View on Wikipedia| DoNotPay | |
|---|---|
| Original author | Joshua Browder |
| Initial release | 2015 |
| Operating system | iOS, Android |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Legal technology, chatbot |
| Website | donotpay |
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]
History and services
[edit]DoNotPay was founded in 2015 by Joshua Browder.[2][3] 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.[4] The company claims its application is supported by the IBM Watson AI.[5] It is currently available in the United Kingdom and United States (in all 50 states).[6]
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,[6] seek claims from Equifax during the aftermath of its security breach,[11] and obtain U.S. visas and green cards.[12] 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).[7] As soon as the free trial period ends, the card automatically declines any charges.[13][14] 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.[15][16]
In 2021, DoNotPay raised $10 million from investors, including Andreesen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Tribe Capital, and others, reaching a valuation of $210 million.[17] In January 2024, DoNotPay began paying dividends to its investors.[18]
Reception
[edit]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]
DoNotPay's effectiveness and marketing have been subject to praise and criticism.[20][21][22] In September 2024, the company received a $193,000 fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for falsely advertising the capabilities of some of its artificial intelligence (AI) services.[23][24] The FTC also stated that the company never tested the legal accuracy of the chatbot's answers.[25]
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."[26] 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."[27]
However, Legal Cheek tested the service in 2016 with "fairly basic legal questions" and noted that it failed to answer most of them.[28] 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.[20]
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.[21]
Legal action
[edit]2023 class-action lawsuits
[edit]In March 2023, two separate class-action lawsuits were filed against DoNotPay.
The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of DoNotPay's customers under California's Unfair Competition Law.[29] The plaintiffs alleged that the company "misled customers and misrepresented its product"[29] and was "practicing law without a license"[30]. The parties "reached a settlement in principle" without exposing the details of the settlement.[31]
The second lawsuit was filed by law firm MillerKing on its own behalf, alleging that DoNotPay causes "irreparable harm" to its customers and "infringes on the rights of law firms employing those who are properly licensed."[32][33] Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel dismissed this lawsuit without prejudice for lack of standing, holding that the plaintiffs failed to allege any concrete injury.[32][34]
2024 Federal Trade Commission fine
[edit]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[...]."[35][36] 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.[25] 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.[25]
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.[37]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Kumparak, Greg (2021-09-09). "DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ^ "Q&A: Joshua Browder '19, creator of ticket-fighting chatbot". The Stanford Daily. July 19, 2016.
- ^ Stokel-Walker, Chris (January 26, 2023). "Why legal services chatbot DoNotPay is abandoning its idea of putting a robot in court". Fast Company.
- ^ Kelley, Jaclyn (October 18, 2018). "Robot Lawyer: App allows you to sue anyone with press of a button". Fox 5. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Kreiger, Lisa M. (March 28, 2019). "Stanford student's quest to clear parking tickets leads to "robot lawyers"". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ a b Johnson, Khari (July 12, 2017). "DoNotPay bot expands its free legal services across the U.S. and U.K." VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ a b 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". iNews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "This Clever New Service Auto-Cancels Your Free Trials". Wired. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Haskins, Caroline (Oct 10, 2018). "New App Lets You 'Sue Anyone By Pressing a Button'". Vice. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Quinn, Lindsey (October 17, 2018). "Josh Browder's DoNotPay lets users 'swipe right' on court settlements and sue for $25k". The Hustle. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ "Chatbot offers legal help to Equifax data breach victims". BBC News. 2017-09-12. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- ^ 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". LawSites. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "App that cancels subscriptions launches in UK". BBC. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ "Virtual Credit Cards". DoNotPay. Archived from the original on 2019-12-30. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Kumparak, Greg (2021-09-09). "DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ Sawers, Paul (2020-10-07). "DoNotPay's 'robo lawyer' now scans your emails to fight spammers, cancel subs, and get refunds". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ Simpson, Andrew G. (2021-08-02). "Robot Lawyer DoNotPay, Valued at $210 Million, Plans to Target Small Businesses". Insurance Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- ^ Melendez, Steven (April 25, 2024). "DoNotPay pays off for investors and staff". Fast Company.
- ^ Gibbs, Samuel (28 Jun 2016). "Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York". Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-02-08. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ a b Wilkins, Steph (12 October 2018). "DoNotPay Is the Latest Legal Tech Darling, But Some Are Saying Do Not Click". Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ a b Allyn, Bobby (25 January 2023). "A robot was scheduled to argue in court, then came the jail threats". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "DoNotPay honored with ABA Brown Award for access to justice efforts". American Bar. Jan 23, 2020. Archived from the original on Jan 26, 2023.
- ^ Vasani, Sheena (2024-09-25). "'Robot lawyer' company faces $193,000 fine as part of FTC's AI crackdown". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ Mangan, Dan (2024-09-25). "FTC cracks down on DoNotPay, others for 'deceptive AI claims and schemes'". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ a b c Belanger, Ashley (2024-09-25). "DoNotPay has to pay $193K for falsely touting untested AI lawyer, FTC says". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
- ^ "Come friendly robots and take our dullest jobs | John Naughton". the Guardian. 2017-07-16. Archived from the original on 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ "The DoNotPay Dilemma: Can Chatbots Provide Access to Justice Without a Lawyer?". ALM Law.com. 2017-07-17. Archived from the original on 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ "Computer science student, 19, says legal profession should be 'very scared' of his new 'robot lawyer' - Legal Cheek". Legal Cheek. 2016-01-15. Archived from the original on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
- ^ a b Leffer, Lauren (2023-03-13). "DoNotPay, the 'Robot Lawyer,' Is Being Sued". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Merken, Sara (2023-03-09). "Lawsuit pits class action firm against 'robot lawyer' DoNotPay". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Merken, Sara. "Legal AI startup DoNotPay reaches settlement in customer class action". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ a b Merken, Sara (17 November 2023). "'Robot lawyer' DoNotPay beats lawsuit by Illinois law firm". Reuters.
- ^ "MillerKing LLC v. DoNotPay Inc, case 23-cv-863 document 1. (US District Court, Southern IL)" (PDF). March 15, 2023.
- ^ "MillerKing LLC v. DoNotPay Inc, case 23-cv-863 document 34. (US District Court, Southern IL)" (PDF). November 17, 2023.
- ^ "DoNotPay Case Summary". ftc.gov. FTC Legal Library (Cases and Proceedings). 25 September 2024 [2024-09-25]. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
- ^ Novak, Matt (2024-09-25). "DoNotPay Has to Pay Up Over 'World's First Robot Lawyer'". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
- ^ "FTC Announces Crackdown on Deceptive AI Claims and Schemes". ftc.gov. 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
External links
[edit]DoNotPay
View on GrokipediaFounding and Historical Development
Inception and Initial Launch (2015)
DoNotPay was founded in 2015 by Joshua Browder, an 18-year-old British entrepreneur who had recently moved to the United States to attend Stanford University.[4] Browder, who had taught himself computer programming at age 12, drew inspiration from his own experiences receiving approximately 30 unjustified parking tickets while in London, which highlighted the inefficiencies and frustrations of contesting bureaucratic fines manually.[5] [6] In response, he developed the initial version of DoNotPay over a few weeks as a free web-based chatbot, primarily to automate appeals against parking violations and to "impress his family," rather than as a commercial venture.[7] The service launched in London that year, functioning as what Browder described as the world's first "AI robot lawyer" for consumers, focused exclusively on generating personalized appeal letters for parking tickets.[6] Users interacted with the chatbot, which posed targeted questions about the ticket details—such as location, vehicle information, and circumstances—and then leveraged basic artificial intelligence to fill out standardized forms and craft arguments based on common legal defenses, like signage errors or procedural lapses by authorities.[8] This automation aimed to level the playing field for individuals facing low-level legal disputes against government entities, where manual appeals often succeeded at rates around 50-60% but required significant time and effort.[9] Early adoption in 2015 was limited but marked the inception of DoNotPay's core mission to combat consumer-facing bureaucracy through technology, with the tool operating pro bono and without any monetization model at launch.[1] Browder's initiative received initial media attention for its novelty in applying AI to accessible legal aid, setting the stage for expansions beyond the UK market in subsequent years.[7]Growth Phases and Key Milestones (2016–2022)
Following its initial 2015 launch focused on parking ticket appeals in London, DoNotPay achieved significant early traction in 2016, helping users contest over 160,000 tickets across London and New York City and challenging more than $4 million in fines within approximately 21 months of operation.[10] This phase marked the service's validation as a consumer tool, primarily through automated appeal generation that exploited procedural loopholes in municipal systems. By 2017, DoNotPay expanded operations to the United States, where it assisted hundreds of thousands of users in successfully overturning tickets, and introduced a mobile application to broaden accessibility.[6] These developments shifted the company from a niche UK experiment to a cross-Atlantic platform, emphasizing scalability in consumer dispute resolution amid growing user adoption. In 2019, the company diversified beyond tickets with the launch of its Free Trial Card, a virtual credit card feature designed to prevent unwanted post-trial charges by auto-declining payments.[6] It also secured $4.6 million in seed funding from investors including Felicis Ventures and Coatue Management, enabling further product development and team expansion.[11] The 2020 phase coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting rapid feature additions for airline refund claims, rent and utility bill deferrals, and eligibility checks for government relief programs.[6] DoNotPay raised $12 million in Series A funding, led by Coatue with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, which supported these adaptations and overall infrastructure scaling.[6] That year, it earned the American Bar Association's Louis M. Brown Award for advancing access to legal services for low-income individuals through innovative automation.[12] Expansion continued in 2021 with tools for filing municipal claims related to infrastructure issues, such as potholes and fallen trees, targeting local government interactions.[6] A $10 million Series B round from Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, and others followed, bringing total funding to approximately $27 million and fueling AI enhancements.[1] In 2022, DoNotPay deployed a dedicated chatbot for automating subscription cancellations and bill negotiations with providers, further automating routine consumer disputes and aiming to reduce manual effort in financial management.[6] By this point, the platform had amassed over 100,000 users and developed more than 100 tools, reflecting sustained growth in scope from ticketing origins to broader bureaucratic advocacy.[6]Services and Technological Framework
Core Consumer Tools and Features
DoNotPay offers over 100 AI-powered tools aimed at simplifying consumer interactions with corporations and government entities, focusing on automation to generate documents, letters, and filings for disputes.[2] These tools target everyday issues such as bureaucratic hurdles and unfair charges, with the platform claiming to have helped users save millions through streamlined processes.[2] Among the primary features is the parking ticket appeal tool, which uses AI to analyze ticket details and local laws to produce customized contestation letters, purportedly enabling users to avoid fines averaging $150 or more.[2] Another core service involves subscription cancellation assistance, where the AI drafts demand letters or navigates automated systems to terminate unwanted memberships, reducing manual effort for services like gyms or streaming platforms.[13] Virtual credit card generation stands out for free trial management, creating temporary card numbers that auto-decline post-trial charges to prevent unauthorized billing while preserving user privacy.[2] Additional tools address privacy and fraud prevention, including burner phone numbers for verifications to avoid spam and data sharing, as well as robocall mitigation features that facilitate lawsuits against telemarketers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, potentially yielding up to $1,500 per violation.[2] The platform also includes unclaimed money search capabilities, scanning public databases for forgotten funds like refunds or inheritances, and flight delay compensation claims against airlines per EU or U.S. regulations.[2] For broader bureaucracy, AI assists in DMV appointment scheduling, small claims court preparations, and fee waivers for services like college applications.[2]- Key Tool Categories:
- Dispute Resolution: Parking fines, utility bills, and warranty claims via automated legal templates.
- Privacy Protection: Virtual cards, email aliasing, and sex offender registry alerts in user-specified radii.
- Financial Recovery: Hidden asset discovery and class-action payout eligibility checks.
- Corporate Challenges: Suing in small claims for issues like defective products or service failures.
