Class action suit filed against over children’s in-app purchases

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 11 Mar 2014

is facing a lawsuit over unauthorized in-app purchases on Android devices by children.

The class action suit is brought on behalf of all persons in the U.S. who paid for unauthorized purchases of game currency by their minor children through the ay app store. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, one of the law firms that filed the suit said Monday.

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Many games in the ay store are offered free but are designed to induce in-app purchases of virtual supplies, ammunition, fruits vegetables or cash, the class action law firms involved in the case noted in the complaint.

“These games are highly addictive, designed deliberately so, tend to compel children playing them to purchase large quantities of game currency, amounting to as much as $100 per purchase or more,” according to the complaint.

requires users to authenticate their accounts by entering a password prior to purchasing an app or buying in-game currency. But when the password is entered, permits the user to make in-app purchases for up to 30 minutes without reentering the password, even if it is a minor, according to the filing.

This enables minors to make expensive in-app purchases without entering a password, “causing to pocket millions of dollars” from such transactions with minors, according to the complaint. This is done without the authorization of their parents, whose credit cards or yl accounts are automatically charged for the purchases, it added.

The lawsuit, which asks for a jury trial, is seeking damages for affected parents.

The case against is similar to one brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against Apple over children’s in-app purchases. That case was settled in nuary Apple agreed to pay at least $32.5 million to customers.

Unlike , Apple changed its practices so that its users must enter their password to make all in-app purchases, law firm Berger & Montague noted in a news release.

did not immediately respond to a request for comment.