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- 2026 Compliance Guide: Brazil's ECA Digital and India's DPDP Act Compared
2026 Compliance Guide: Brazil's ECA Digital and India's DPDP Act Compared
ECA Digital meets DPDP Act — here's how these landmark regulations compare, and how k-ID helps you comply with both
Crystal Wong
November 11, 2025
2026 will be a watershed year for children's digital safety regulation. Brazil's ECA Digital 🇧🇷 and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP Act) 🇮🇳 will both take effect — but their approaches are fundamentally different.
At k-ID, we've been closely tracking both regulations as they’ve evolved. In this guide, we'll break down the key differences requirement by requirement, so you can understand exactly what's coming and how to prepare.
Timeline & Stakes ⏰💰
Brazil: ECA Digital | India: DPDP Act | |
|---|---|---|
Effective Date | March 2026 (confirmed) | Still TBD, likely January 2026 |
Maximum Fine | 50 million Brazilian reais (BRL 50,000,000 or ~USD 8.7M) per violation, or up to 10% of the company's revenue in Brazil, whichever is higher | 250 crore Indian rupees (INR 2,500,000,000 or ~USD 29M) per violation |
The stakes are high in both markets. While India's flat fine is larger, Brazil's revenue-based penalty could significantly exceed India's depending on a company’s market presence — companies with substantial Brazilian operations could face fines in the hundreds of millions in USD.
Digital Age of Consent 🎂
This is where the two laws diverge most dramatically — and it affects everything downstream.
Brazil: ECA Digital | India: DPDP Act | |
|---|---|---|
Digital Consent Age | Remains 12, but establishes additional protections for <18s | Moves to 18 (from no digital age of consent) |
Parental Consent Scope | A parent does not necessarily need to consent to all data processing, but still needs to have control over specific “risky” features accessed by a teen (e.g. communication tools) | A verified parent must consent to ALL data processing on behalf of their <18 child |
What This Means in Practice (Example Scenario) | A 14-year-old can create an account and play a game without parental consent. But if they want to access in-game chat or make purchases, parental permission is required | A 16-year-old cannot create an account, access any features, or provide any personal data without verified parental consent first |
k-ID's Solution
AgeKit provides a universal API for global age verification and compliance, determining user age categories (child, teen, or adult) based on local laws across 195+ countries through a simple API integration. Key features include:
- One API that unlocks global coverage across 195+ countries
- Automatic adaptation to local rules
- Monthly updates to keep pace with changing regulations
- Privacy-first design that ensures global compliance
Result: You don't need separate integrations for Brazil and India — AgeKit knows which model to apply based on jurisdiction.
Age Assurance
Brazil: ECA Digital | India: DPDP Act | |
|---|---|---|
Age Assurance Required? | ✅ YES — for harmful content/social media | ⚠️ TBD — likely for parental verification |
Primary Focus | Verify users accessing risky features | Verify parents before they consent |
Verification Timing | At feature entry points | Before any data processing |
Acceptable Methods | Broad variety, reusable signals encouraged (e.g., AgeKeys) | Stricter, may require full identity verification via DigiLocker |
Implementation Example | User creates account → In-game chat disabled → User can later verify 13+ to unlock chat | User attempts to register → System detects under 18 → Parent verifies via DigiLocker → Parent consents → User accesses platform |
k-ID's Solution
🎯 k-ID has a best-in-class age assurance solution for BOTH users and parents.
Unlike some solutions that only verify parents, k-ID offers solutions for both users and their parents, and the intelligence to know what methods are appropriate to use in what scenario. For example, Facial Age Estimation may be perfect for gating teens from mature content, but insufficient for verifying parents in India's VPC framework. k-ID knows the difference.
🏪 As an age verification “clearinghouse”, k-ID provides the most options — and we're constantly adding new methods as markets demand them.
Current k-ID verification methods include:
- Facial Age Estimation
- Document verification (ID, passport, driver's license)
- Credit card verification
- Email Estimation
- AgeKeys (reusable age signals)
- Verify with Trusted Adult
Why this is crucial: If you're locked into a single vendor, you're stuck rebuilding. With k-ID, you have options from day one, and don’t have to worry about adding more later.
Feature Restrictions 🚫 & Parental Controls
Both Brazil and India include a general obligation to process data in the child’s “best interest” — though neither explicitly defines what that means. However, both laws do establish clear restrictions on certain features.
Brazil: ECA Digital | India: DPDP Act | |
|---|---|---|
Targeted Ads / Profiling | ❌ BANNED for under 18s | ❌ BANNED for under 18s |
Contextual Ads | ✅ Allowed | ✅ Allowed |
Loot Boxes | ❌ BANNED for under 18s | No explicit ban |
Parental Controls required? | ✅ YES | ✅ YES |
k-ID's Solution
Other compliance solutions may obtain parental consent, but they won't help you track or enforce feature-level bans across jurisdictions. CDK does.
The Compliance Development Kit (CDK) is k-ID's powerful solution for developers seeking to implement comprehensive youth compliance across their digital platforms. With the CDK, developers can integrate 200+ market-specific compliance requirements through simple, practical API endpoints that handle dozens of key compliance areas.
The CDK includes pre-built Go-to-Market Compliance Packs that support compliance for kids and teens across more than 200 global markets. These packs feature approximately 20 specific API endpoints covering essential compliance requirements, from age verification and parental consent to privacy notices and feature permissions.
By leveraging the CDK, you can:
- Implement session-based permissions that update automatically as users age or travel
- Access built-in flows for age gates, age assurance, and verifiable parental consent
- Utilise prebuilt defaults and webhooks to minimise edge-case work and keep apps in sync
- Maintain privacy-preserving signals with minimal data handling
Result: Deploy features confidently only where they're permitted, without maintaining complex jurisdiction logic in your codebase.
Quick Reference Summary 📊
Brazil: ECA Digital | India: DPDA | WHY k-ID? | |
When is it effective? | March 2026 | Still TBD, likely Jan 2026 | – |
Max Fine? | 50 million Brazilian reais (BRL 50,000,000 or ~USD 8.62M) per violation, or up to 10% of the company's revenue in Brazil, whichever is higher | 250 crore Indian rupees (INR 2,500,000,000 or ~USD 29.76M) per violation | – |
Digital Age of Consent? | Remains 12, but establishes additional protections for <18s | From no digital age of consent to 18 | AgeKit helps clients manage the age of digital consent around the world and is updated in real-time |
General obligation to process data in child’s best interest | YES | YES | – |
Age Assurance required? | YES — for harmful content and/or social media | TBD — still unclear | k-ID has a best-in-class age assurance solution for BOTH users and parents. |
Verification methods? | Broad variety accepted, reusable signals (e.g., AgeKeys) encouraged | Stricter, may need full identity verification via DigiLocker | As a clearinghouse, k-ID provides the most options for assurance, and are constantly adding new ones, like DigiLocker. We’re much more agile than relying on a single assurance vendor. |
Targeted Ads / Profiling Ban | YES | YES | CDK provides feature-level flags, ensuring compliance at scale. Other compliance solutions may obtain VPC, but they won’t help companies comply with these feature-level bans in specific jurisdictions. Leveraging the CDK allows for confident deployment of targeted ads only in the places they’re allowed. |
Loot Box Ban | YES | NO | CDK provides feature-level flags, ensuring compliance at scale. Other compliance solutions may obtain VPC, but they won’t help companies comply with these feature-level bans in specific jurisdictions. Leveraging the CDK allows for confident deployment of loot boxes only in the places they’re allowed. |
Parental Controls required | YES | YES | Family Connect offers easily implementable parental controls. Using Parental Preferences, parents can easily set time or spend limits through k-ID’s platform, and those preferences will be communicated back to you through our APIs. |
Ready to Prepare for 2026?
Whether you're preparing for Brazil, India, or both, k-ID provides the complete solution:
✅ Jurisdiction Intelligence
k-ID automatically applies the right rules based on user location — you don't need to become an expert on Brazilian vs. Indian law.
✅ Flexible Verification
From Facial Age Estimation to AgeKeys, k-ID's clearinghouse supports both Brazil's flexible approach and India's strict requirements.
✅ Feature-Level Enforcement
CDK provides the feature flags you need to confidently deploy (or block) specific functionality by jurisdiction.
✅ Unified Parental Controls
One consistent interface (Family Connect) that adapts to local requirements behind the scenes.
✅ Real-Time Updates
As India's rules are finalised and Brazil issues guidance, k-ID's platform updates automatically.
Don't build this in-house. Don't juggle multiple vendors. Choose k-ID. 💜
👉 Want a deeper dive into Brazil’s ECA Digital requirements? Read the full Brazil blog here.
👉 Ready to get started? Contact us or explore our Developer Docs to get started.