On April 9, 2024, the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CONANDA) published Resolution No. 245 of 5 April 2024, providing for the protection of children's and adolescent's rights in the digital environment.

What are the principles of minors' protection online?

The resolution provides for the following basic principles for the protection of minors online:

• non-discrimination;
• right to free speech, and access to information;
• personal data protection, informative self-determination, and privacy; and
• assurance of minor's rights by design of the digital products and services.

Furthermore, the resolution provides for the rights of minors online, including the right to be protected from risks related to the content, contract, or conduct of third parties in the digital environment, such as risks of being exposed to violent content, cyberbullying, hate speech, harassment, addiction, gambling, illegal marketing, or activities that put the minor's life or physical integrity at risk.

Minors' privacy and data protection online

The resolution also highlights minors' right to privacy and data protection online, providing that:

• minimal amount of personal data should be collected for the provision of the service;
• data processing should observe the highest protection, safety, and ethical standards;
• organizations providing services to minors should inform them about their data processing in simple, accessible, adequate, and transparent language;
• whenever the processing is based on consent, consent should be freely and previously given by the minor or the minor's guardian, and obtained for specific purposes;
• consent can be withdrawn at any time;
• minors' personal data should not be used for commercial purposes, including profiling and targeted advertising; and
• any type of online monitoring of minors should respect their right to privacy and should not be employed indiscriminately.

What are the obligations of companies?

In addition, the resolution notes that companies that provide products or services to minors are responsible for any violation of minors' rights in the digital environment according to existing legislation.

The resolution further provides for obligations for companies providing products or services to minors, including that organizations:

• should make efforts to prevent minors from using products or services that are not adequate and safe for them;
• should not prevent minors from exercising their right to information;
• should adopt measures to ensure liability for any form of abuse, violence, discrimination, ableism, the spread of hate speech and misinformation;
• should employ effective mechanisms for age verification, and the data used for age verification should not be used for other purposes;
• should make available mechanisms of parental control;
• should create channels for receiving complaints;
• should identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks to the rights and interests of minors; and
• should annually publish transparency, risk management, and independent audit reports.

Moreover, the resolution notes that the national policy of protection of children and adolescents should be developed within 90 days.

You can read the resolution, only available in Portuguese, here.