New TCPA Battleground Emerges Over Minors' Consent
David Anthony and Brooke Conkle, attorneys with Troutman Pepper, were quoted in the Law360 article, "New TCPA Battleground Emerges Over Minors' Consent."
The FCC often cites contract authority to support its findings, which include its orders that describe consent as
flowing from "the customary user or the account holder," David Anthony and Brooke Conkle of Troutman
Pepper said in a joint email. In the case of a minor using a cellphone, that definition could apply to either the
child as the user or the parent as the account holder, they noted.
Contract law could also provide support to both sides, the attorneys added.
"Under contract principles, affirmative consent would require capacity, meaning that minors could not provide
affirmative consent," the Troutman Pepper attorneys said. "Following those same principles, however, minors
could not revoke consent, a result that is in tension with the FCC's directive that consumers can revoke consent
by any reasonable method. This is further complicated by instances where an intermediary can provide
affirmative consent, including in cases of incapacity."