On May 24, the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) issued a statement allowing the use of the justifications for use personal data (Article 7) and sensitive personal data (Article 11) in respect of processing of personal data of children and adolescents under the Brazilian data protection law (LGPD).
Prior to this, it was understood that only parental consent or the protection of the lives of children and adolescents were legal justifications available to legitimize the processing of data of persons under 18 years of age.
The statement was received with interest by privacy and data protection professionals, since it represents a withdrawal of important safeguards for the rights of children and of adolescents, despite facilitating the processing of data of children and adolescents for those who use this type of personal data in their activities.
In the coming days, it is expected that several entities for and against the position will raise their arguments for a deeper debate on the subject to be established.
Important organizations such as the Alana Institute, defend the position that the legal bases for the use of data of children and adolescents should continue to be based on the existing legal hypotheses for sensitive personal data. In this sense, it would not be possible to use the legitimate interest, the protection of credit, or the need for the data to fulfill a contract with the data subject to justify the use of minors’ data.
On the other hand, companies that rely on the large-scale processing of data from children and adolescents to establish and maintain their activities, such as electronic games and social networking companies, tend to see the statement established by the ANPD as positive news.
It is important to balance commercial interests with the protection of children and adolescents, since the LGPD itself provides that all data processing of this type of data subject must be made following the doctrine of the best interest, established in the Federal Constitution, in the Brazilian Law on Children and Adolescents (ECA) and other norms in force.
Our team will be following all these developments closely. If you would like to know more about how these topics could affect your business in Brazil, please get in touch with our technology experts at: [email protected]