Bill No. 2,628/2022, known as the digital Brazilian Statute of the Child and Adolescent (“Digital ECA Bill”), has been approved by the Brazilian National Congress and is currently awaiting presidential approval. Introduced in response to growing public concern over the premature exposure of children to adult content and behaviors on social media platforms, the Digital ECA Bill establishes a regulatory framework for the protection of children and adolescents in the digital environment. Its provisions apply to all technology products and services available in Brazil.
The Digital ECA Bill establishes key principles such as full protection, prioritization of the best interests of the child, safeguards against abuse, protection from inappropriate commercial exploitation, and respect for the progressive autonomy of minors in the digital sphere. It also amends the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados) (“LGPD”) to ensure that data processing involving children and adolescents is guided by the principle of their best interests.
Key provisions include:
- Adoption of default settings that prioritize privacy and data protection, in line with the principles of “privacy by design” and “privacy by default”;
- Availability of simple and effective parental control mechanisms;
- Prohibition of children’s access to social media platforms, with age verification required through reliable methods – simple self-declaration is not considered sufficient;
- Maintenance of accessible reporting mechanisms;
- Ban on targeted advertising to children, the use of digital profiling techniques, and “loot boxes” (randomized reward mechanisms) in electronic games;
- Mandatory half-yearly transparency reports for platforms with over one million underage users;
- A coordinated effort between the National Data Protection Authority (Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados) (“ANPD”), the Ministry of Justice, and National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescent (Conselho Nacional dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescent) in defining best practices.
Although the Digital ECA Bill does not detail specific technologies for age verification, global regulatory standards increasingly favor more secure and privacy-preserving approaches, such as: (i) verification via official documents; (ii) AI-based facial recognition to estimate age; (iii) cross-checking with third-party databases, government records, or educational records; (iv) zero-knowledge proofs to confirm users are over 18 without revealing personal data; (v) he European Blueprint system, designed by the European Commission, which allows users to verify their age once with a trusted authority and subsequently demonstrate age compliance across platforms without disclosing additional personal information.
In matters of privacy and data protection, the Digital ECA Bill introduces a comprehensive set of obligations for companies, positioning the ANPD as a key regulatory authority. Notable data protection provisions include: (i) amendment of Article 14 of the LGPD to expand the legal bases for processing personal data of children and adolescents, guided by principle of the best interest; (ii) obligation to produce data protection impact reports whenever personal data processing involves children or adolescents; (iii) prohibition of profiling for advertising purposes, as well as the use of emotional analysis and virtual reality techniques; and (iv) obligation for social media platforms to adopt specific rules for processing personal data of children and adolescents.
The Digital ECA Bill also establishes platform liability for hosting content that violates the rights of children and adolescents, once notified of its offensive nature. In this context, the Digital ECA Bill complements Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet) by introducing an additional exception to the general rule requiring a court order for content removal.
Penalties for non-compliance may include warnings, fines of up to 10% of a company’s revenue or BRL 50 million per violation, temporary suspension, or permanent prohibition of activities.
By approving the Digital ECA Bill, Brazil advances toward international regulatory trends in digital child protection, contributing to a safer, more transparent, and more responsible digital environment for the development of children and adolescents.
Our Private Wealth Planning, Family & Succession, and Technology & Innovation teams are available to assist with matters related to the Digital ECA Bill.