The iOS 7.1 update to Apple’s iPhone and iPad software now warns users about subsequent in-app purchases after confirming purchase of an item via the App Store.
After making an in-app purchase, the alert cautions that additional purchases ranging from 69p to £69.99 can be made in any app for 15 minutes without requiring the re-entry of the password associated with the iTunes account.
The alert also offers users the option to change the settings to immediately require the password to be entered for any purchase, removing the 15-minute implemented in response to US regulatory and legal action over in-app purchases.
A class action lawsuit from 2011 against Apple over in-app purchases by children was settled for around $100m in February 2013. It alleged that “Apple failed to adequately disclose that third-party game apps, largely available for free and rated as containing content suitable for children, contained the ability to make in-app purchases.”
In January the US Federal Trade Commission ordered Apple to provide a full refund of in-app purchases made without the permission of the account holder, after it received 10s of thousands of complaints. As an example, the FTC said one parent had complained her child spent more than $2,600 in the Tap Pet Hotel app without her permission.
As part of the agreement, Apple was ordered to change its purchasing process by 31 March to ensure consumers give full consent when purchasing items in mobile apps.
The FTC said Apple failed to inform consumers that they could be approving in-app purchases by entering a password on their device, which this new pop-up warning attempts to address.
Google faces a similar US lawsuit over unauthorised in-app purchases of virtual currency by children.
• How to disable or control in-app purchase on iPads and on Android tablets
via apple - Google News http://ift.tt/Px0EV6
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