ECA Digital presses e-commerce and redesigns rules of online commerce in Brazil

ECA Digital, approved in March, begins to redesign not only the way social networks and digital platforms deal with children and adolescents, but also the structure of e-commerce and the advertising market in Brazil. The update of the Statute of Children and Adolescents to the virtual environment imposes a new level of regulatory requirement that reaches marketplaces, online retailers and companies that operate with digital commerce, even those that do not have the child audience as a direct focus.

In practice, the most immediate impact is on how these platforms start to deal with age verification and protection of minors in consumer environments. The simple self-declaration of age, widely used so far in online shopping, is no longer enough in situations of greater risk, such as the sale of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or restricted products. The new logic requires more robust checking mechanisms, which forces companies to restructure basic stages of the buying journey.

Engagement features widely spread across e-commerce and digital applications, such as infinite scrolling, pushy notifications, and reward systems, including game-inspired mechanics, are now restricted to minors.

For the sector, the central challenge is the implementation of age verification mechanisms that are both reliable and scalable. Methods such as facial biometrics and document validation are beginning to gain ground, replacing self-declaration. The change, however, requires a balance between accuracy, user experience and data protection, since the information collected cannot be stored permanently.

ECA Digital also redefines the logic of digital advertising. Direct targeting of ads to children and adolescents is no longer allowed based on behavioral data, forcing brands to migrate from a logic of individual targeting to a strategy based on contexts and environments. This profoundly changes the efficiency of campaigns and reduces the predictability of audiences reached.

For e-commerce, the combined effect of these changes is structural. The sector starts to operate under a logic in which conversion, engagement and regulatory compliance need to coexist within a more rigid system of user protection.“The central point is not only the adoption of new tools, but the paradigm shift in the way digital platforms structure their product and communication decisions, especially when there is potential interaction with minors”, he points out Hygor Roque, Head Revenue da Divibank.

In the implementation schedule, the National Data Protection Authority should conduct the inspection gradually, with a more targeted initial phase and focus on application stores and operating systems, before expanding the performance to other sectors of the digital ecosystem. The sanctions provided range from warnings to fines that can reach 10% of the companies' revenues in Brazil, as well as more severe measures in cases of recurrence.