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GOOGLE HAS AGREED to issue at least $19 million in refunds to consumers whose children made app purchases from its Google Play store without parental consent, officials said Thursday.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Google agreed to the settlement to resolve a probe into “unfair” practises by billing consumers for charges by children made within kids’ apps since 2011.
FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a statement that in the age of mobile technology, “it’s vital to remind companies that time-tested consumer protections still apply, including that consumers should not be charged for purchases they did not authorise.”
The in-app charges are a component of many apps available from Google Play and can range from 99 cents to $200, according to the consumer regulatory agency.
In some apps used by children, users are invited to accumulate virtual items but sometimes are billed without the knowledge of their parents.
Google has also agreed to update its practises to ensure that it receives parental consent for the purchases.
A Google spokeswoman, asked about the settlement, said in a statement, “We’ve already made product changes to ensure people have the best Google Play experience possible. We’re glad to put this matter behind us so we can focus on creating more ways for people to enjoy all the entertainment they love.”
Google allows parents to set up their devices to require passwords, or to allow for password-free purchases. But the company notes that in-app purchases are relatively new and that practises are being developed.
Up to now, Google has generally provided refunds on request. But the settlement requires Google to contact all consumers who placed an in-app charge to inform them of the refund process within 15 days of the order being finalised.
If the refunds total less than $19 million in refunds within 12 months, the company must remit the balance to the US Treasury.
The agreement follows a similar deal earlier this year with Apple, which agreed to pay $32.5 million.
The FTC in July sued Amazon as part of its investigation into in-app purchases by children, but no settlement has been announced.
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How much can I scab back from buying virtual cars in real racing or any of my other childish, regrettable purchases of what are essentially drawings of real things? Do I have to prove kids downloaded it, or if I provide blood alcohol levels from the time of purchase would they spot me a few quid back?
Why would you buy them? You just need to play circa 22.5 hours a day and the rest is easy ;)
society is turning into the setup for the idiocracy movie. whats so difficult about explaining that you ask permission to buy stuff on line that costs real money, my eldest has understood this from ages 7 or 8. Clash of Clans is his big game that uses a lot of in game purchases and he gets credits from time to time for school work and the like.
My lil brother spend 700€ on my fathers card on clash of clans. Turns out he gave my brother his card details to get a game worth a euro and it saved his card details on my brothers iPod and so my brother kept buying things without him knowing until he got a phone call from the bank about suspicious activity on his card. My father rang up Apple and they refunded him all the money.
There is more safer ways to parents to monitor purchases that their kids make. miDough is probably the best and would recommend any parents to check it out. Here’s the link https://www.midough.com/#
My lil brother spend 700€ on my fathers card on clash of clans. Turns out he gave my brother his card details to get a game worth a euro and it saved his card details on my brothers iPod and so my brother kept buying things without him knowing until he got a phone call from the bank about suspicious activity on his card. My father rang up Apple and they refunded him all the money.
There is more safer ways to parents to monitor purchases that their kids make. miDough is probably the best and would recommend any parents to check it out. Here’s the link https://www.midough.com/#
You can make the Google Play store demand a password for buying apps. If you have this set then that’s your app store issue solved. As for in-app purchases they probably can be a bit rogue & harder to lock down, but best policy is to try not keep card details on a device your kids have access to or create a child friendly partition, which is very easy to do (Google is your friend).
As for refunds, wonder if they’ll refund me my 8.99 for Football Manager 14… 15 is out soon after all….
So stupid parents should not have to accept responsibility for their actions? Sigh…
Would be great if Microsoft did the same …. Xbox live
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