Brazil's Child Safety Laws Offer Lessons for India Ahead of BRICS Summit
A Brazilian study found that 21 out of 25 digital services lacked age verification at registration before the country's new child law took effect. India is set to host the BRICS Summit in September.
Brazil conducted a study examining age assurance methods on digital services shortly before its new child protection law came into effect. The research, covering 25 digital services between January 10-30, 2026, revealed that 21 of them had no age verification at the point of registration. This baseline study was conducted before the "ECA Digital" law was enforced.
The methods documented included official identification documents, selfies with IDs, credit cards, parental consent, Google accounts, and social recognition. Estimation methods involved photo and video selfies, email addresses, profiling, AI models, and facial recognition. However, the study's coordinator emphasized that it only recorded what platforms stated in their policies, not the effectiveness of these measures.
Brazil's findings could offer India valuable insights as it prepares to host the BRICS Summit in September. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act), 2023, includes provisions for child digital safety set to commence in May 2027. Despite legislative steps, India has not conducted a comparable measurement of its current age assurance landscape.
Fábio Senne, the study's coordinator, stressed the importance of clear and accessible communication regarding age-related protections to enable effective parental supervision. He recommended that India focus on developing measurement apparatus to monitor the implementation of new measures and gather evidence for continuous policy improvement.