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The legal strife surrounding in-application purchases on mobile devices has now raged in the U.S. for a few years as consumer protection groups go after big tech companies that are responsible for ensuring that children do not make purchases when using applications connected to their parents’ bank accounts. The Federal Trade Commission has joined the fray, making Amazon its latest target.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez stated in the FTC’s official release:
Amazon’s in-app system allowed children to incur unlimited charges on their parents’ accounts without permission. Even Amazon’s own employees recognized the serious problem its process created. We are seeking refunds for affected parents and a court order to ensure that Amazon gets parents’ consent for in-app purchases.
Ramirez refers to internal communications at Amazon that date back to December 2011 acknowledging allowing unlimited in-app charges without any passwords. The communication notes that such permission was “…clearly causing problems for a large percentage of our customers.” The case is being brought to federal court in Seattle, Washington.
VISUAL CONTEXT: IN-APP PURCHASES
Source: Apsalar, Business Insider
Amazon is simply next in the line of companies that have come under fire for their negligence regarding in-app purchases by children. Apple has been embroiled in legal problems of this kind for some time, having been forced to reimburse users millions of dollars for purchases that children made through its app store last year. Apple did not take such a wrist slap quietly though, and instead pointed a finger at Google for allowing similar unauthorized in-app purchases. It looks as though all three major U.S. app store businesses dropped the ball on ensuring consumer protection rights.
The question many tech companies bring forth during these cases is: Are parents not partially to blame for allowing their children to make purchases in applications? So far, the FTC says the responsibility lies with the app stores.
