Apple criticised over in-app purchases

Warc, 21 July 2014

BRUSSELS: Apple has come in for criticism from the European Commission (EC), which accused the technology giant of not providing "concrete and immediate" solutions to deal with problems associated with in-app purchases.

The EC has been working with national authorities to deal with concerns about games advertised as "free", but which may have hidden costs, as well as inadvertent purchases by children without parental permission, the BBC reported.

It wants Apple, Google and other app vendors to be clear about the true costs of app purchases and wants other measures, such as app companies providing email addresses so they can be contacted if there are complaints or queries.

Google has decided on a number of changes due to be implemented by September, the EC said, which went on to single out Apple for apparently not committing itself to change.

"Although, regrettably, no concrete and immediate solutions have been made by Apple to date to address the concerns linked in particular to payment authorisation, Apple has proposed to address those concerns," the EC said in a statement.

"However, no firm commitment and no timing have been provided for the implementation of such possible future changes," it continued.

However, Apple responded by insisting that it is leading the industry over parental control features.

"We are always working to strengthen the protections we have in place, and we're adding great new features with iOS 8, such as Ask to Buy, giving parents even more control over what their kids can buy on the App Store," it said.

The EC said it and the 28 member states of the European Union will continue to monitor the issue, leaving enforcement in the hands of the national authorities.

Data sourced from BBC, European Commission; additional content by Warc