Unauthorized Children’s In-App Purchases Round Two: Google Faces Class Action

Just two months after Apple's settlement with the FTC over lax parental controls over children's in-app purchases (see our prior blog post), Google takes the spotlight with claims of unauthorized children's in-app purchases in the Google Play Store! This time, it's not an FTC action, but a class action. The suit was filed on March 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  The suit was brought by a New York mother ("Plaintiff") on behalf of herself and other parents whose minor children downloaded free or relatively inexpensive child-directed games from the Google Play store and then incurred charges for purchasing items that cost money within the app without parental consent or authorization. For example, the Plaintiff's five year old son spent over $65 dollars on virtual Crystals while playing the game "Marvel Run Jump Smash!" on an Android device.