BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) is soliciting public comments to help improve interpretation and application of the country’s Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents (Digital ECA), which requires adult websites to age-verify users located in Brazil.
ANPD described the public consultation, which began Thursday and runs until June 15, as “an opportunity to promote a collaborative and transparent process, allowing experts, public sector entities, civil society organizations, and citizens to contribute to the improvement of regulatory practices.”
The guidance document under development is intended to help ANPD clarify the scope of the Digital ECA and the general obligations of suppliers of information technology products and services — including providers of adult content — under the new law, which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed in March.
The law mandates that providers of adult content require age verification beyond self-declaration and applies regardless of where site operators are based. The ANPD has addressed initial parameters for AV implementation and has laid out planned stages for compliance monitoring as the agency ramps up enforcement of the new rules. Stage 1, now underway, includes the newly launched public consultation.
According to the ANPD, the final guide will clarify to whom the new law applies; the meaning of duties of prevention, protection, information, and security under the law; and key terms such as “supplier of information technology products or services directed at or likely to be accessed by children and adolescents” and “service providers with editorial control.”
The ANPD statement explains, “The Guide aims to provide greater predictability and legal certainty to the application of the law ... It seeks to provide transparent guidance and directives for companies and stakeholders, as well as to establish understandings and best practices that can assist in the implementation process of the new regulations.”
According to the ANPD statement, the current draft of the guidance document is available on the consultation platform.
Anyone wishing to contribute input, comments, or questions can do so here. Non-Brazilians using the portal are required to provide passport information.
