Mother suing over $69 of in-app purchases through Marvel game
Google is facing a class-action lawsuit over claims it “unfairly” profited from unauthorized in-app purchases by children. The suit was filed by New York mother Llana Imber-Gluck, who says her child spent $68.95 on virtual currency for the Marvel Run Jump Smash! game on Google Play. Law firm Berger & Montague, representing Imber-Gluck, alleges that Google “has unfairly profited by marketing free or low-cost games to children and by permitting them to easily rack up charges for worthless in-game currency, by failing to incorporate reasonable controls such as simply requiring the entry of a password.”
Today’s press release goes on, “Google is certainly aware that its primary competitor, Apple, has taken steps to end this unfair practice, and Google should do the same.” Central to the case is the issue of password use to restrict purchases in Google Play. With password protection enabled, users remain able to make purchases for 30 minutes without re-entering the password, a feature which Berger & Montague says “is designed to enable children to purchase in-game currency without parental permission and without having to enter a password.”
The firm represented parents in a similar case against Apple, which earlier this year resulted in $100 million in iTunes credits being handed out as settlement.
Source: The Guardian