Parents’ phone app grumbles surge

Published on 16/01/2013 00:00

Complaints about children accessing smartphone apps increased 300 per cent in a year, with the potential for parents to be hit with bills running to thousands of pounds, a regulator has warned.

Figures suggest two in three 11 to 16-year-olds (63 per cent) have downloaded a free app on to their phones, according to PhonepayPlus, the UK regulator of premium rate telephone services.

But parents who do not talk to their children about what they spend on smartphones can find themselves responsible for bills of “hundreds or even thousands of pounds”, according to its report, Children as Connected Consumers.

The report highlights two areas of “particular risk” – free apps and social media linked to smartphones.