by Apple has reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that claimed that its app purchase policy did not prevent minor children from running huge expenses for in-app purchases.
Under the settlement proposed to a court in California, Apple has agreed to pay in cash and credits through its iTunes store to a class of U.S. residents who claimed to have paid for game currency in game apps downloaded from the App Store by minors without their knowledge or permission.
Plaintiff Garen Meguerian, who filed the initial class action complaint in a court in California in April, 2011, alleged that he discovered a series of in-app purchases charged by his then eight-year-old daughter in third-party apps between January and March 2011 without his knowledge or permission, according to court records.
Apple requires its users to authenticate their accounts by entering a password before purchasing or downloading an app or buying game currency, according to the 2011 complaint. Once an iTunes password was entered, a user—even if they were minors—could buy game currency for the next 15 minutes without entering the password again. Apple altered its in-app purchase model with the iOS 4.3 update, after a backlash from parents and government agencies.
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