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Are the subscribers/customers of your web or mobile application under the age of majority? This is potentially problematic for several reasons:
Companies with subscribers who are under the age of 13 will face additional scrutiny on the nature of advertising that they are exposed to.
You will note that Facebook requires that its subscribers are at minimum, 13 years of age. Facebook admits that many users will lie about their age. According to a Huffington Post article, Facebook deletes 20,000 underage users per day, and encourages self-reporting (or parent reporting) to assist them to find the underage users. When registering on Facebook, subscribers are required to provide their date of birth, and Facebook offers the following disclaimer:
“Providing your birthday helps make sure you get the right Facebook experience for your age. You can choose to hide this info from your timeline later if you want.”
Contracts entered into with minors are not generally enforceable without a parent or legal guardian co-signing.
Even with a co-signing parent or guardian, there are certain rights that cannot be assigned by your legal guardian (e.g. limitation of liability).
When developing your terms of use to include an underage counterparty, to increase the likelihood of enforceability, here are some suggested terms:
1. Require that the parent or legal guardian agree to be bound by the terms of use.
2. Require that the parent or legal guardian provide their registration information.
3. If payment is required, ensure that the credit card provided is that of a primary cardholder who is the age of majority, and is the parent or legal guardian.
4. Terms that impose liability on the registrants should include both the parent or legal guardian and the subscriber, jointly, and in aggregate.
5. Many electronic terms of use do not allow for a signature; you can require that a scanned copy of the contract be sent back after registration and also require that the parent or legal guardian provide their signature.
For additional reading: see my recently posted commentary on this topic here.
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This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not create a lawyer-client relationship with the reader. It is not legal advice and should not be regarded as such. Any reliance on the information is solely at the reader’s own risk. Clausehound.com is a legal tool geared towards entrepreneurs, early-stage businesses and small businesses alike to help draft legal documents to make businesses more productive. Clausehound offers a $10 per month DIY Legal Library which hosts tens of thousands of legal clauses, contracts, articles, lawyer commentaries and instructional videos. Find Clausehound.com where you see this logo.
Rajah Lehal: Rajah is the Founder and CEO of Clausehound.com. Rajah received his M.B.A. and J.D. degrees, from the University of Western Ontario Richard Ivey School of Business and the Faculty of Law respectively, during which time he was Co-President of Entrepreneurs@Ivey, a student-run entrepreneurship group and, as well, assisted Professor Richard McLaren with the launch of the Western Business Law Clinic. Rajah also received an Honours Philosophy degree from the University of Waterloo, where he also took a significant course load in Mathematics and Computer Science. Rajah worked for more than a decade in the information technology industry, including three years in software development and seven years as an Information Systems and Technology manager at both a major telecommunications company and at a financial services company. Rajah also received his legal training in the corporate law group at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto, as well as internationally for the Technology Media and Telecom group in the Dubai office of Clyde & Co. Rajah is a Technology and Small Business Lawyer and is counsel for the Venture Law Practice Group at Cobalt Business Counsel, a corporate and securities law practice based in Toronto. Recently, Rajah has been interviewed for a Financial Post podcast and by the Globe and Mail for his work at Multiplicity, and has joined the Loan Review Committee Member for the CYBF Spin Master Innovation Fund and was asked to judge the Ivey IBK Business Plan Competition. Rajah is also on the board of directors of Sky’s the Limit charity that provides laptops to youths in need and is Canadian Responsible Leaders Chapter Head for the BMW Foundation. Rajah continues to be an active member in the start-up technology industry nationally and internationally.