It was only a few days ago when Apple settled a lawsuit involving in-app purchases made by children. The lawsuit offered affected users a $5+ iTunes gift card, and those who's children purchased more than $30 worth of in-app purchases will receive a full cash refund. The lawsuit is said to cost Apple around $100 million. A family in England is an example of the types of things that go on when you leave your child unattended with your iOS device.
Danny Kitchen wanted to play Zombies vs. Ninja on his parents' iPad. The parents unlocked the iPad, saw that the game was free, and allowed their son to play. What they didn't realize was that Danny could make in-app purchases in the game, and that's exactly what he did. Danny's parents were busy entertaining a group of guests, so they weren't able to keep an eye on what their son was doing. Unfortunately for them, their oversight almost cost them 1,710.43 Pounds, or around $2570.
Danny made 12 purchases of 333 keys at 69.99 pounds each, 7 sets of 333 ecstasy bombs at 69.99 pounds each, 5 sets of 9000 darts at 69.99 pounds each, 5 sets of 4200 darts for 5.49 pounds each (why is this so much cheaper than the 9000?), and some more ecstasy bombs at 3.22 pounds each. The following Monday, Danny's mother, Sharon Kitchen, received 19 e-mails from iTunes confirming Danny's purchases. She disregarded it because she thought it was a mistake. It wasn't until she received a call from her credit card company confirming these transactions with her.
Sharon told Danny to get ready for bed, and to "run and hide before daddy got home", and Danny's siblings hilariously tortured him even more by saying that their parents could have purchased a house with the money he spent. Apple has graciously refunded the Kitchens their money back. The Kitchens were upset and questioned why children were so easily able to spend a fortune on these in-app purchases.
An Apple spokesperson replied with a statement saying that there are parental controls in all iOS devices that can prevent these incidents from happening. They prevent internet access, age rated content, and "also give parents and guardians the option to turn off functionality such as purchasing from iTunes and the ability to turn off in-app purchases." So parents, take advantage of those parental controls in order to prevent a case like this from happening to you.
[via The Telegraph]