Canadians offer little sympathy for parents (Candy) Crushed by kids’ in-app purchases

Half favour government intervention to ensure app stores put adequate security measures in place

October 24, 2017 – When a child plays in a make-believe world on a parent’s smartphone and uses real-world money to make an in-game purchase without understanding or adult consent, who is to blame? And what should be done about it?

Far from idle questions, these debates are at the heart of recent U.S. lawsuits that Apple, Google, and Amazon settled for a combined $120 million.

A new public opinion poll from the Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians offering little sympathy for parents affected their children’s unauthorized purchases. Fully six-in-ten (62%) say the parents themselves are to blame in such situations. That said, nearly half (48%) would welcome federal government regulations aimed at preventing kids from buying digital goods without parental supervision. Overall, one-in-seven Canadians have personal experience with children buying something they weren’t supposed to on a mobile device – either because they live with the child in question or because it happened to a close friend or family member. Among those under age 35, exposure to situations like these rises to one-in-five. public policy

More Key Findings:

Though more than seven-in-ten (72%) agree that “those over age 10 should know better than to make purchases on their parents’ mobile devices”, just 3 per cent of Canadians say children under that age are most responsible when unauthorized purchases are made Three-quarters (75%) agree that “games that are designed for children or ‘all-ages’ should not allow in-app purchases,” but just one-in-ten (11%) blame app developers for unauthorized purchases by minors Those who regularly download apps featuring in-app purchases are more likely to say government intervention is not needed in this area (61% do)

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/ in-app-purchase-policy