– My research improves our understanding of how to strengthen the rights of children and better protect them in a digital setting, says Germaine Hillerström, who recently defended her doctoral thesis in civil law at Karlstad Business School.
The subject first piqued Germaine Hillerström’s interest when she read about children who - unbeknownst to their parents - had made digital purchases, which raises the issue of responsibility and the legal capacity of children.
– Many parents are stunned when they receive an unexpected invoice for thousands of kronor for something their kids bought online in a matter of seconds, says Germaine Hillerström. That raised a lot of questions for me. Who is responsible here? An important factor to keep in mind is that children do not have full legal capacity. That means they cannot enter into agreements like adults can. Unfortunately, this is a pretty common problem.
While the digital lives of children are a growing part of everyday life, our laws have not stayed ahead of the curve, especially in terms of children entering into agreements online.
– My research is related to a socially relevant and rapidly expanding area – the digital lives of children. An increasing number of children have access to tablets and smartphones from an early age, and much of their everyday life takes place in digital environments. However, the law is not always in line with these new realities, in particular when it comes to children’s ability to enter into agreements and make purchases online.
The study, with the English title ”Children Contracting for Digital Services without Explicit Parental Consent”, combines traditional legal analysis with an evaluation of decisions made by ARN, the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes, which offers practical knowledge of the legal procedure for children’s digital purchases.
– I looked particularly at disputes where children made purchases without the express consent of their parents. It offered valuable insight into how these situations are dealt with practically and which legal questions tend to arise.
Tell us about some notable discoveries from your study
– Microtransactions in apps could undermine the legal protections of children according to Chapter 9 of the parental code. Many digital services have not been adapted to children, which leads to unintentional purchases, confusion about accountability and in some cases to parents going into debt as a result of transactions they have not authorised. Those who develop digital services have to take more responsibility by designing services that are child-friendly, and children and parents both need better digital skills. The study also shows that the principle of acting in the best interest of the child is not completely upheld in the digital environment.
If your child has entered into a contract like this, how can you get it annulled?
- If a child has made unauthorised purchases in an app or some other digital service, the parents should contact the company as soon as possible after discovering the transactions. Purchases can sometimes be cancelled because children do not have full legal capacity. But if the parents themselves have registered their bank or credit card and the child has had access to the parents’ user account, it could be interpreted as indirect consent, leaving the parents bound by the contract.
And how can the law help?
- By combining legal analysis with practical, real-life examples, my research improves our understanding of how to strengthen the rights of children and better protect them in a digital setting. It also highlights the need for clarity about the responsibility of the companies that create apps and digital services intended for young users.
What do you want your research to contribute?
– My research is the first in Sweden that uses the lens of civil law to analyse the relationship between the legal responsibilities of parents and the autonomy of children when children enter into agreements about digital services. I hope my research can raise awareness of the challenges posed to contemporary law by children as consumers of digital services. By highlighting the problems around children purchasing digital content, I want to raise the issue of how to better protect children as consumers, but also the fact that parents are also vulnerable consumers in the digital environment and need legal protection and more guidance. I hope the research will be a foundation for future legislative changes.
In what way does your research strengthen Karlstad Business School?
– By contributing to the ongoing development of knowledge about how digitalisation affects society, the law and our finances, with a particular focus on children’s digital consumption. By showing how the law addresses new technological behaviours from younger consumers, I help increase the understanding of digital markets and consumer protection, which is fully aligned with the profile Karlstad Business School has within sustainability, ethics and responsibility. My research also demonstrates the importance of multidisciplinary perspectives within law, technology and society, which supports the school’s ambition to be a relevant education and research environment with close ties to society.
