Amazon Starts Refunding $70 Million for Kids’ In-App Purchases – NBC News

If your kid racked up hundreds of dollars on your credit card for virtual ”gems” on Amazon, your share of $70 million in refunds is finally on its way.Along with Apple and Google, the ecommerce giant settled with the FTC in 2014 over allegations that it had insufficient safeguards to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases.These especially included virtual currency in games bought through the Amazon store that gave players a boost.Play Facebook TwitterEmbed Amazon Refunding $70 Million For Unapproved Purchases Made by Children 1:31The FTC’s suit explained how ”a child may be prompted to use or acquire seemingly fictitious currency, including a ’boatload of doughnuts, a can of stars and bars of gold,’ but in reality the child is making an in-app purchase using real money.”This case demonstrates what should be a bedrock principle for all companies — you ”must get customers’ consent before you charge them,” said Thomas B. Pahl, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in a press release. ”Consumers affected by Amazon’s practices can now be compensated for charges they didn’t expect or authorize.”

Källa: Amazon Starts Refunding $70 Million for Kids’ In-App Purchases – NBC News