Parents in the US are filing legal action against the US-based search engine giant Google over in games purchases made by their children without their consent. Google is facing legal action against a mother based in New York on behalf of all parents.
The parents expressed their anger as one of the children spent $66 in five minutes of downloading a free game, which is known as Marvel Run Jump. A similar issue was faced by Apple in 2013, after which the company offered refunds to customers of $32.5 million. In order to download apps from Google PlayStore, users have to enter their username and password to make a purchase.
In this case however, the child purchased digital crystals. In a statement on behalf of the parents, law firm Berger & Montague said, “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 has requiring the entry of a password.”
The search engine is yet to respond to the news of the legal action. Consumer protection officials from the EU met with a number of technology firms in order to discuss issues and guidelines.
Photo Credits: Phys
