LICKS ATTORNEYS' COMPLIANCE BLOG

The Digital ECA Transforms the Internet and the Software Industry in Brazil

This Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the Brazilian internet has awakened under a new paradigm. The Silicon Valley mantra – “move fast and break things” – comes into direct conflict with the country’s newest and most stringent legal hurdle: the Digital Child and Adolescent Statute, or simply, Digital ECA. Brazil now joins countries like Australia and England, where similar regulations already safeguard the rights of minors in the vast digital environment. For technology developers, software architects, product managers, and social media executives, this date marks the end of the era of self-reported age verification and the beginning of “protection by design.”

This change goes far beyond a simple update to Terms of Use or the addition of a new cookie banner. Statute #15,211, enacted on September 17, 2025, mandates a profound restructuring of the backend, database modeling, and user interfaces for any platform operating in Brazil. In this investigative and analytical article, we delve into the history behind this legislation, its legal foundations, and – most importantly – what it changes in practice for those who write the code that shapes our society.

The History of the Creation of the Digital ECA

The Digital ECA was not created overnight. It is the result of years of pressure from civil society, child development experts, and legal professionals who watched with growing concern as children and adolescents became increasingly vulnerable in the online environment. The internet, originally designed by and for adults, had become the primary playground for young people, yet it lacked the necessary safety barriers.

The starting point for this legislative revolution was Bill #2628/2022. Introduced in a post-pandemic context, when screen time among children and adolescents had reached unprecedented levels, Bill #2628/2022 proposed, for the first time in Brazil, specific regulations for digital platforms with an exclusive focus on protecting minors.

During its passage through the Brazilian House of Representatives and later the Senate, the bill faced intense debate. On one side, child rights organizations argued that the business model based on the attention economy and massive data collection was causing irreparable harm to the mental health of young people – a phenomenon often referred to as “premature adultification” and algorithmic dependence. On the other side, the technology sector and Big Tech companies warned of censorship risks, the technical challenges of implementing age verification, and the potential impact on innovation.

The public closely followed the hearings. It became clear that the traditional model of the 1990 Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA), while visionary for the physical world, lacked the tools to address micro-targeted advertising, dark patterns, and short-video recommendation algorithms.

The final substitute version of Bill #2628/2022 managed to balance these tensions. Inspired by cutting-edge international legislation, such as the UK's Age-Appropriate Design Code and the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), Brazilian lawmakers adopted a risk-based approach. The final text was approved in mid-2025, consolidating a consensus: responsibility for safety could no longer be outsourced exclusively to parents; platform architecture itself must bear the burden of protection.

The Statute That Gave Rise to the Digital ECA

The legal framework now governing the digital environment for minors in Brazil was established under Statute #15,211/2025. The law was signed by the President of the Republic and published in the Official Gazette of the Union on September 17, 2025. Recognizing the technical complexity required for compliance, the legislator established a transition period (vacatio legis) of six months, meaning the law comes into force the week this article is published, March 17, 2026.

Statute #15,211/2025 does not repeal the original ECA (Statute #8,069/1990), the General Data Protection Act (LGPD – Statute #13,709/2018), or the Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights (Statute #12,965/2014). Instead, it interacts with these norms, creating a specific and highly regulated layer of protection for data processing and the provision of digital services to minors under 18 years of age.

The legal basis for the Digital ECA rests on the constitutional principle of full protection and absolute priority (Article 227 of the Brazilian Constitution). Lawmakers translated this abstract principle into concrete software engineering obligations: if the best interests of children must come first, then the source code must reflect that priority.

The Effects of the Law Coming into Force for Social Networks, Websites, and Applications

For technology developers, the entry into force of the Digital ECA means the product roadmap must be reassessed immediately. These are not cosmetic changes; they affect the core structure and technical infrastructure of platforms. Below are the key practical effects.

The End of Self-Declaration and the Era of Age Assurance

Historically, the barrier to restricted content on the internet was a simple checkbox:  “Are you over 18?” This model, widely recognized as ineffective, is now prohibited for services that pose risks to minors.

The Digital ECA requires the implementation of robust Age Assurance mechanisms. Through its technical guidance documents (such as Technology Radar #5), the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has established that platforms must adopt methods proportionate to the level of risk associated with the service.

What changes for developers:

Items	Changes
Integration of Third-Party APIs	The most strongly recommended approach is to use APIs provided by operating systems (iOS, Android) or app stores that transmit an “age signal” (an encrypted token confirming the age range) without sharing the user's personally identifiable data.
Facial Recognition and AI	For web platforms, the use of artificial intelligence for facial age estimation is permitted, provided that the image is processed locally on the device or deleted immediately after inference (adhering to the principle of data minimization).
Age Verification	Frictionless design is no longer the default expectation. Adding age verification steps is now a legal requirement, even if it reduces conversion rates during new user onboarding.

Privacy and Security By Default

If the system identifies that a user is under 18, the account settings must be configured to the most restrictive possible from the very first moment of use.

What changes for developers:

Items	Changes
Private Profiles	Teen accounts cannot be public by default. Only approved connections may view the content or interact with the minor.
Disabled Geolocation	The collection and sharing of precise location data must be disabled by default. If voluntarily enabled by the user, a clear visual indicator must remain active on the screen while location services are in use.
Parental Supervision Tools	Developers must create dashboards for parents, allowing them to monitor screen time, block contacts, and restrict in-app purchases.

The End of Behavioral Profiling and Recommendation Algorithms

Perhaps the most severe financial impact on social media networks will be the ban on the behavioral profiling of minors for targeted advertising. The AdTech model, which tracks clicks, viewing time, and interactions to serve hyper-personalized ads, is now illegal when applied to children and teenagers.

What changes for developers:

Items	Changes
Separation of Databases	Data flows must be segmented. Events generated by minor users cannot be fed into machine learning models designed for advertising purposes.
Chronological or Neutral Algorithms	Recommendation feeds (such as short-video feeds) must offer options that are not based on intimate profiling, mitigating the risk of “rabbit holes”, where the algorithm pushes young users toward extremist or unhealthy content (such as material promoting eating disorders) in order to maximize engagement.

The Extinction of Loot Boxes and the New Engineering of Monetization

For the games and entertainment app industry, the Digital ECA establishes a categorical rule: random reward mechanics involving financial payment, so-called loot boxes, are prohibited in products aimed at minors.

 

Considered by experts as a gateway to gambling and betting addiction in childhood, loot boxes represented a multi-billion-dollar revenue stream for game studios.

What changes for developers:

Items	Changes
Refactoring the Game Economy	Gacha mechanics, a monetization and gameplay system in digital game, common in mobile games and RPGs, based on random rewards, similar to Japanese toy vending machines – gachapon) or virtual roulette wheels paid for with real money (or virtual coins purchased with real money) must be removed or blocked for underage Brazilian users.
Transparency in Procurement	Monetization must shift toward direct purchases, where the user knows exactly which virtual item they are acquiring.

Content Moderation and Immediate Notice-and-Takedown

Platforms can no longer rely on the immunity provided by Article 19 of the Brazilian Internet Bill of Rights when it comes to serious violations of children's rights (such as sexual exploitation, grooming, or extreme cyberbullying). The Digital ECA imposes a duty of care.

What changes for developers:

Items	Changes
Priority Reporting Channels	Interfaces must include reporting mechanisms that are accessible and understandable for children.
Quick Removal	Upon receiving notification of content that violates the rights of minors, the platform must act immediately to remove or block access to such content, whether notified by the victim, their representatives, Brazil’s Prosecutor's Office, or entities defending the rights of children and adolescents, regardless of a court order, under penalty of joint liability.
Transparency Reports	Smaller platforms with more than 1 million users in Brazil will be required to generate semi-annual reports detailing systemic risks identified and the mitigation measures adopted. This requires the creation of specific data pipelines for regulatory auditing.

The Cost of Non-Compliance

If the LGPD had already alarmed the market with fines of up to 2% of revenue, the Digital ECA raises the regulatory risk to an unprecedented level in Brazil. The legislator understood that, in order to confront the economic power of Big Tech, the sanctions needed to be truly dissuasive, overcoming the cold calculation that it is “better to simply pay the fine to keep operating.”

The penalties foreseen for platforms that fail to comply with child and youth protection rules include:

Sanction	Consequence
Warning	With a deadline for adopting corrective measures.
Simple and Daily Fine	The fine can reach a staggering 10% of the economic group's revenue in Brazil from its last fiscal year, with a ceiling of BRL 50 million per infraction. This represents a financial risk five times greater, in percentage terms, than that of the LGPD.
Publication of the Infringement	Severe damage to the brand's reputation.
Data Blocking	Prohibition on using personal data collected improperly.
Suspension or Total Prohibition of Service	In cases of repeated offenses or serious infractions (such as systemic failure to prevent the grooming of minors), Brazilian courts and administrative authorities may order the temporary suspension or even the permanent blocking of the application or website within the national territory, instructing internet providers to cut off access to the platform.

It is important to note that the law establishes joint and several liability between the foreign parent company and the Brazilian subsidiary. It is pointless to argue that data processing takes place on servers abroad; if the service is offered to the Brazilian public, the jurisdiction of the Digital ECA applies.

The ANPD as the New Digital “Sheriff”

To ensure that the law does not become a “dead letter,” the Brazilian Government promoted a strategic restructuring. Through Decree #12,622/2025 (and complementary legislation), the ANPD was elevated to the status of a full Regulatory Agency.

The ANPD was designated as the autonomous administrative authority with exclusive competence to oversee and enforce the sanctions of the Digital ECA. With greater technical and financial autonomy, the Agency now has “sharp teeth.” It will not only analyze data leaks but also conduct algorithmic audits, demand access to the “black boxes” of recommendation systems, and assess whether platform designs encourage addiction.

For developers, this means that code documentation, architectural decisions, and A/B testing may all be subject to review by government auditors. Compliance is no longer just a legal document signed by attorneys at law; it is becoming a demonstrable software engineering requirement.

Immediate Actions for Developers

For attorneys working in legislative environments, the message conveyed to CTOs and engineering leaders is clear: the Digital ECA is not an obstacle to innovation, but a new set of non-functional system requirements.

Below are the immediate steps that development teams should take starting now:

1. Data Mapping: Identify exactly where data from users under 18 is stored, how it flows through the system, and which third-party APIs have access to it.
2. Age Gating Implementation: Replace birthdate forms with integrations to trusted identity providers or operating system Age Assurance APIs.
3. Refactoring Permissions: Review access control logic (RBAC/ABAC). Ensure that the flag “is_minor = true” automatically forces the database to apply visibility restrictions (private profiles) and blocks the sending of those IDs to advertising pipelines.
4. UI/UX Review: Eliminate dark patterns. If it is difficult for an adult to cancel a subscription or delete an account, it is illegal for a child. The interface must be clear, neutral, and non-manipulative.
5. End of Commercial Tracking: Disable third-party tracking cookies (such as Facebook Pixel or Google Tags) on logged-in pages or sessions used by minors.
6. Geofencing: For international startups, if immediate compliance is too costly, the short-term solution is to apply strict content blocking or access restriction rules for IP addresses and registrations originating from Brazil, until the architecture is fully compliant.

The entry into force of the Digital Child and Adolescent Statute on March 17, 2026, represents an institutional maturation for Brazil, which has overcome the naive presumption that self-regulation by technology platforms would be sufficient to protect the most vulnerable citizens of our society.