Amazon says it will defend itself in court against the Federal Trade Commission to avoid fines and policy changes that would confront the issue of children making in-app purchases on their parents' accounts without consent.
The FTC has already settled in a similar case involving app purchases with Amazon's competitor, Apple. The heat coming from the FTC involves several consumer complaints involving apps that are free but aggressively urge users to download virtual goods via credit card payments.
Amazon reportedly wrote a letter to the FTC stating it would rather fight it out in court than submit to the fines proposed by the federal regulators.
"When customers told us their kids had made purchases they didn't want, we refunded those purchases," Andrew DeVore, an Amazon associate general counsel, said in the letter. He added the Amazon app store had "prominent notice of in-app purchasing, effective parental controls and real-time notice of every in-app purchase."
The FTC reportedly wants more, including password use for each time an in-app purchase is made, a simpler refund process and notices about purchase policies more prominent.
Of course Amazon is not alone in the FTC scrutiny, but neither are they alone in services that can be purchased if a child gets a hold of their parents tablet or smartphone. A number of other services offer goods for sale online.
It was reported the FTC wants a 20-year plan to keep better records and to change how the companies report information. Apple settled to similar terms and agreed to repay consumers $32.5 million.
Amazon may have a valid defense, claiming Apple's case shouldn't be a boilerplate for the case against Amazon because the company refunds customers when mistaken or unauthorized purchases are refunded promptly. They said they were disappointed the FTC put the two companies side by side.
"We have consistently improved the customer experience in response to data," the letter reads.
The FTC argues Amazon has allowed in-app purchases since 2012 but didn't offer informed consent options until June. Amazon has recently marketed a kid's tablet with parental control options.
Amazon reportedly said the requirements are already being met and that the company must defend its position. The Amazon Free Time app can provide security that will only let users who use a PIN to purchase within apps.
