CONTRATOS ELETRÔNICOS DE ADESÃO

UMA ANÁLISE DA VALIDADE DO CONSENTIMENTO NO MEIO DIGITAL

Abstract

The present study analyzed the validity of consent in electronic adhesion contracts, taking into account the specificities of legal relationships formed in the digital environment. The research examined how the Brazilian legal system contributes to the protection of the manifestation of will of the adhering contracting party. Furthermore, it identified the main requirements and mechanisms necessary to ensure free, conscious, and informed consent in electronic adhesion contracts. To this end, the hypothetical-deductive method was employed, combined with descriptive, bibliographic, and qualitative research, based on both national and foreign legal scholarship, as well as an analysis of the relevant legislation. Throughout the study, the characteristics of electronic and adhesion contracts were presented, along with the forms of manifestation of consent in the digital environment and the challenges arising from the use of practices capable of influencing consumer decision-making. The analysis led to the conclusion that, although electronic acceptance mechanisms are, in theory, formally valid, they do not always reflect consent that is genuinely free and conscious, due to informational asymmetries and the control exercised by suppliers over the digital environment. Thus, it was found that the validity of consent in electronic adhesion contracts requires the combination of the traditional legal requirements of the general theory of contracts with transparent informational practices and appropriate technological mechanisms, in order to preserve autonomy of will, the social function of the contract, and legal certainty in digital contractual relationships.