Letting your kids use your gadgets has its benefits and its downsides.
Although capable of stopping a tantrum or preventing a strop, your device will likely come back plagued with sticky fingerprints. Oh, and you might have just unwittingly racked up a sizeable bill of in-app purchases too.
Now, this isn't the giant gesture of goodwill it might first sound like. Instead, it’s the culmination of a three-year legal battle between the online retailer and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a US regulator.
As a result, Amazon is to make a pool of around $70 million (£56.12m) available for refunds.
In-app purchase refund
Amazon, however, has yet to offer up details on the refund program and how you’ll be able to claim back money owed to you.
The Amazon App Store can be added to a number of Android devices and comes pre-installed on the company’s own Amazon Fire tablets.
Although all app platforms offer in-app purchases, parents had complained that Amazon’s service made it too easy for children to make digital purchases without their consent. Amazon isn’t the only one to have been hit by such a case, however.
Back in 2014, both Apple and Google settled similar cases with the FTC. They seemed to get off a bit lighter, however, with combined refunds amounting to $51 million.
According to the FTC, Amazon takes a 30% cut of all apps sold through its digital store.
For now this is a US-based ruling, but the result could have implications for customers in the UK and Europe.
Via The Verge