Parents in the US are suing Google over purchases made by children within in-app games without their consent.
In particular, a lawsuit was filed by a New York mother, Liana Iber-Gluck, on behalf of other parents. It is noted that her five-year-old son was able to spend $68.95 in five minutes on in-game "crystals" from downloading a free game, Marvel Run Jump Smash.
To download apps from Google Play, a user must submit a code. After that, there is a 30-minute "window" during which it is possible to purchase additional content in the downloaded game without having to submit the code again.
A statement from the law firm Berger & Montague, which represents parents, states that Google has “unfairly profited by promoting free or low-cost games to children, and by allowing them to easily charge for useless in-game “money” by not incorporating controls such as requiring a passcode.”.
Last year, Apple agreed to pay customers $32.5 million for similar cases. It also agreed to change its billing practices to require parental consent before in-game charges are made.
Free (freemium) applications - games, which are offered for free or at an extremely low price, but allow in-game purchases of virtual goods, "money" for use within the game, etc., have been gaining ground as a trend over the last three years, both in the field of mobile devices and desktop systems.
So far, Google has not commented on the case.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
