Whoops! Six-year-old spent $150 in Android app

By Rosa Golijan

There's been plenty of talk about how children are managing to spend hundreds of dollars on virtual items in iPhone apps without their parents' consent or knowledge, but a six-year-old girl's Android-based shopping spree reminds us that incidents like that can happen on any mobile platform.

The Next Web reports that an Android user going by the name "Heidi" recently sought advice regarding in-app purchases on the Talk Android forum. She explained that her six-year-old daughter managed to charge $149.99 to her credit card while playing an Android game called Restaurant Story and wanted to know if there was a way to get that money refunded:

It appears child was able to click on the “Buy” button within the app, initiating the Android Market payment process. From there, all that needed to be done was to accept the Terms and Conditions, charging the in-app purchase immediately to the mother’s credit card.

Unlike Apple's in-app purchase system, Android's did not appear to require any password to be entered in this particular instance and Heidi's daughter was able to purchase gems — virtual in-game currency for Restaurant Story — without any trouble.

Odds are that the child didn't really understand that gaining virtual currency would mean that her mother's wallet would suffer. And while it is a parent's responsibility to make sure a child understands that concept, we do feel that it's an app maker's responsibility to include some sort of simple childproofing feature for in-app purchases.

Hopefully Android will follow in the footsteps of iOS and include tighter parental controls in future software updates.

Comment:

Comrades, this is a typical modern-day example of Judeo-Capitalists acting like typical predators in the wild. In the jungle, when a predator sees a herd of antelope, they look for the weakest one to single out for attack. Often this mean juveniles. This is precisely what has happened. Android knew very well that without passwords being required, children would innocently purchase apps for games and things.

The fat cats have always preyed on the weak and innocent. This is yet another reason for us to avoid useless technological junk. This game, "Restaurant Story" is basically about going out to eat. Why do children need this? To teach them about money? When I was a kid we learned these things from board games. Kids today are so spoiled they wouldn't play a board game for anything.

Incidents like these are as much our fault as the fat cats. If you leave a piece of carrion in your yard, the vultures and rats will come.

We must not allow ourselves to be suckered in by the sharks on Wall Street and Madison Ave. And to add insult to injury, all these technological trinkets are made in China, with customer service centers in India.

Kids, and adults for that matter don't need every piece of technological crap that comes along. They also don't need designer clothes, and expensive jewelry. What I'm trying to say is DON'T FEED THE VULTURES!

Dan 88!