at the Union Court of Accounts (TCU) with the theme "Connecting is essential, protecting is essential".According to the Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents (), digital service providers must offer, free of charge, parental control mechanisms accessible to parents. With the creation of the Digital ECA, the ANPD's role has been expanded to regulate, guide, and oversee aspects of this legislation.
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"It is possible to prevent access to a wide range of inappropriate content, as well as to agree on screen time at home. The maturation of a child or teenager is a very fragile process and is full of risks," said Miriam Wimmer, who holds a doctorate in communication and culture policies.
Dangerous street
According to the director, leaving a child unsupervised on the internet is equivalent to leaving one's child to walk alone on a dangerous street."It makes no sense for me to let him go unsupervised." She considered that the ECA Digital brings important steps by establishing responsibilities for the State and for companies.
"The key pillar that truly needs to be matured is the one within the home, because it's pointless to have a richly protective environment if the responsible parties give a 7-year-old child a phone to do whatever they want," she said.
The director of the National Data Protection Agency (ANPD) recalled that the ECA Digital is the result of a construction between different social groups and political spectra with the purpose of protecting these vulnerable groups.
The digital environment is conducive to freedom of expression and access to information. It is an environment that we seek to maintain as protective of privacy, without excessive collection of personal data.
More protection
Miriam Wimmer defended the choice of the ANPD as an autonomous administrative authority for the protection of rights in the digital environment. This includes, for example, the age verification of young people and parental supervision mechanisms. "These mechanisms must coexist with the idea of privacy and data protection, without creating excessive data collection that could also compromise other fundamental rights," she emphasized.
She added that the legislation states that mere self-declaration is not a valid mechanism for determining age.According to her, the service or product provider should have its own control mechanisms and enable those responsible to have greater access to social networks, for example.
There is a requirement to link the accounts of minors under 16 to the accounts of legal guardians. This is a very interesting and distinct approach from some countries that have decided to prohibit, for example, the use of social networks by younger people.
Security requirements
The director pointed out that the ECA Digital innovated by preventing manipulation by service and product offers. She exemplifies that the ANPD defines minimum security requirements regarding manipulative practices, excessive or compulsive use. "All of these behaviors are subject to sanctions."
For her, the topics that were unfolded by ECA Digital are close to the issues present in the General Data Protection Law.
The director of ANPD contextualized that the Brazilian legislation was not of prohibition of access to social networks, but of trust that it is possible to establish control points so that the experience of young peopleonlineis appropriate.
Also at the event, the president of the Board of Action of the Brazilian Action for Digital Awareness (ABCD), Cristina Carvalho Pinto, warned that 40% of Brazilian children and adolescents are going throughcyberbullyingShe estimates that 16 million children have been victims of this violence.