Amazon may have to give up to £56 million in refunds for purchases of in-app downloadable content made by children. This comes after the company has dropped its appeal in the United States against such refunds becoming possible.
The appeal was dropped by Amazon after the company made an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that would still allow the company to continue to sell in-app downloadable content going forward.
A US federal judge in 2016 had ruled that the purchases made by children had not been done so with the consent of their parents, and more importantly, the account holders. As a result, this opened the door for refunds, and Amazon"s obvious appeal.
Most of these games offer the opportunity to level-up, obtain a new item or unlock new content often purchasable within the game itself. Arguably the major flaw in such a storefront is that the requirement to confirm in-app purchases by password is not always the default setting, which leaves many accounts vulnerable to the industrious toddler.
A number of things are still not quite clear. Amazon has not declared whether these refunds will only apply in the United States. They have also not explained how to go about claiming your refund, nor has it outlined how you would prove that it was your child making the purchases and not yourself.
Sources: Bit-tech