Child Online Protection Act COPPA Federal Trade Commission FTC privacy
FTC Sues Amazon Over Billing for Childrens' In-App Purchases
The FTC has filed a lawsuit alleging that "Amazon.com, Inc. has billed parents and other account holders for millions of dollars in unauthorized in-app charges incurred by children." FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said, "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." The FTC recently settled similar charges with Apple. In that case, the FTC charged Apple with "billing consumers for millions of dollars of charges incurred by children in kids' mobile apps without their parents' consent." Under the terms of the settlement, Apple must provide a refund for affected consumers and must change its billing practices to ensure that it has obtained express, informed consent from consumers before charging them for items sold in mobile apps. Previously, EPIC filed a complaint with the FTC over Amazon's collection of children's data. EPIC explained that Amazon was violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by allowing children to post content, including personally identifiable information, without their parents' permission. EPIC currently has several complaints pending with the FTC. For more information, see EPIC: FTC.
July 11, 2014| Share:
