Amazon is preparing to face a potential lawsuit from FTC for not having stricter means to regulate unauthorized in-app purchases made by children.
FTC claimed that the company does not have enough controls in place to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases, which sometimes amounts to hundreds of dollars.
FTC wants Amazon to agree to a consent order, similar to what Apple agreed to earlier this year, and forked more than £18.9 million ($32.5 million) to around 37,000 customers.
Signing the consent order, Amazon will have to make every in-app purchase password protected and also make the refund process easier. The company may also incur fines and maintain records for two decades along with additional disclosure of information.
In a response to the allegations by FTC, Amazon has said that it is ready to defend itself as it has already done enough to keep children from making in-app purchases without their parents’ permission. The company said that it has provided sufficient parental controls in its app store and that it promptly notifies credit card holders on every in-app purchase made.
The company also highlighted its Kindle FreeTime service, a kid-friendly mode specially designed for its app store which lets parents control which apps their children can use and also keep a tab on the in-app purchases made by their children.
Amazon also said that it doesn’t make sense to file a litigation against a company that has lawful practices which not only meet but also exceed the requirements of the consent order and according to the company, it is an unfortunate misallocation of the Commission’s resources.
