Amazon sets up parental controls for teenagers

SEATTLE — Amazon is taking aim at one of the unintended consequences of the internet age: purchases racked up by a youth with a credit card.

The online retailer Wednesday said it would allow teenagers to set up Amazon accounts linked to those of a parent, giving the adult veto power over specific purchases and the ability to set spending caps.

Michael Carr, parent of a teenager and a vice president in Amazon’s e-commerce services group, related a story he’d heard secondhand of somebody winding up with a golf cart a child had ordered.

“What we want to do is empower parents to have conversations around appropriate spending,” he said.