7-year-old orders 34,000 euros on Google Play: Dad has to pay

A German father is left with Google bills totaling at least 33,748 euros, caused by his son's unauthorized purchases of games and game content in the Google Play Store. The child was between seven and eight and a half years old during the period of the purchases and apparently used a Google Play account belonging to the father's company. The fact that the father had explicitly forbidden his child from making such purchases is irrelevant, according to the Karlsruhe Regional Court.

In its judgment (case no. 2 O 64/23), it refers to the so-called apparent authority. Although no actual power of attorney exists, the other party (in this case, Google) can rely on the good-faith appearance of authority that arose. The child's age is irrelevant here; what matters is the legal capacity of the represented party, i.e., the father, not the representative. Legal protection of the child against debt does not apply because the child is not incurring debt, only the father is financially burdened. The father's claim for reimbursement failed, but he could appeal.

The court is not bothered by the high sum of money; quite the opposite: short-term unauthorized use of third-party user accounts generally does not create apparent authority. However, precisely because the child made a total of 1,210 paid purchases in just over a year and a half, Google was entitled to assume that everything was in order. "Because the undisputed use of a user account on a sales platform for digital content over such a long period and with such a high number of transactions and transaction volume as in this case undoubtedly creates an appearance of right towards the platform operator," states the Second Civil Chamber.

Divorce, Moving, and an Android Tablet

The father is a long-time software developer and owner of a corresponding company. He purchased an Android tablet for making certain test purchases. He set up a Google Play account using a credit card also used for business purposes and a separately created email address. After the tests, he gave the tablet to his son, who was then five and a half years old, in 2019 without changing the Google account. This is a violation of Google's terms of service, which prohibit the transfer of accounts to third parties.

From August 30, 2019, to July 22, 2020, the father and son made eight purchases together on Google Play for a total of 47.92 euros. The father prohibited further spending, and the child initially adhered to this. However, the father did not utilize available protective measures such as spending limits, a prepaid account instead of a credit card, or a separate child account. In court, he stated that he assumed purchases on Google Play were only possible after confirmation with a password. But he should have known better, the court believes, especially since he himself had made eight orders for the child at the beginning.

Unfortunately, the parents divorced, and the family moved. Amidst this chaos, the child, now seven years old, secretly but extensively made purchases on Google Play. From February 2, 2021, to September 21, 2022, he made 1,210 purchases ranging from 0.99 to 109.99 euros each, costing a total of at least 33,748 euros. "The purchases were overwhelmingly for the acquisition of games or in-app purchases," states the court, which has no doubts about the facts.

Purchase confirmations were sent to the email address set up years earlier for the initial tests, which no one had managed for a long time. The credit card charges only came to light in the 19th month, given several international trips and other business expenses.

(ds)