Amazon will soon refund up to $70 million of in-app purchases made by children

Nearly one year after Amazon was found guilty of illegally billing users for unauthorized in-app purchases, the company has dropped its appeal against the decision, paving way for refunds to finally commence.

The in-app charges stemmed from purchases made by kids when playing with freemium apps. In the 2016 decision, a US federal judge found that Amazon failed to clearly inform parents that free apps may still include in-app purchases, and did not provide enough notice and password requirements to prevent unwanted charges. The Federal Trade Commission estimated that parents were charged upwards of $70 million between November 2011 and May 2016. 

According to the FTC, Amazon will begin is refund program “shortly.” In November, Amazon’s request to refund the purchases in the form of gift cards was rejected by a US district judge, so the company is expected to refund affected customers money back directly to their debit or credit card, or via paper checks.

The article was published on : theverge