For years, the protection of children and adolescents in digital environments was handled primarily as a legal matter. With Law No. 15,211 of September 17, 2025, which governs the protection of children and adolescents in digital environments and establishes the Digital Statute of the Child and Adolescent, known as the Digital ECA, the subject now also sits on the product, technology, compliance and risk management agenda.

The shift matters because the new requirements do not stop at internal policies or terms of use. They have a direct effect on how digital companies operate, particularly those dealing with access to sensitive content, platforms where users interact with one another, or journeys that demand greater accountability over who is on the other side of the screen.

In practice, the Digital ECA raises the bar for verification mechanisms. Controls that rely on self-declaration alone, such as entering a date of birth or ticking a checkbox, tend to fall short in higher-risk scenarios.

Verification stops being a formality

For many companies, checking age has always been a simple step in the journey. The user entered their details and moved on.

That model is losing ground in a more demanding regulatory environment. Companies now have to show that they have more reliable mechanisms to validate age and, in some cases, identity.

This calls for a new approach. Verification stops being a formality and becomes a meaningful layer of security, compliance and experience.

The challenge is doing this without turning the journey into something heavy, slow or difficult for the user.

Security and experience have to move together

A common mistake is treating regulatory compliance as a synonym for more friction. The higher the risk, the more steps. The stricter the requirement, the more effort for the user.

But that path can lead to abandonment, more support tickets and lost conversion.

Digital companies need to strike a balance: validate what is necessary, at the right moment, with a high degree of reliability and the least possible friction.

This is where facial authentication, identity verification and liveness detection become relevant. They help confirm that a real person is in the journey, reduce fraud risk and create a firmer foundation for auditable processes.

Protecting real people takes more than intent. It takes reliable technology, a fluid experience and security without friction.

The role of liveness detection

The liveness check, also known as liveness detection, makes it possible to verify whether the person is genuinely present at the moment of validation.

This layer is essential to reduce risks related to the use of photos, videos, masks or other attempts to simulate a real person.

In regulated journeys, this can make the difference. Receiving information declared by the user is not enough. In certain contexts, real presence has to be proven, identity validated with greater precision and evidence of the process retained.

All of this has to happen fluidly, without turning authentication into a test of patience.

The new standard for digital journeys

The Digital ECA redefines what is expected of companies when it comes to the protection of children and adolescents in digital environments. Against that backdrop, weak verification mechanisms will become progressively less adequate.

The companies that are ready will be those able to connect compliance, product and technology in a journey that is secure, simple and scalable.

Fortface is already prepared to support that evolution, combining facial authentication, certified liveness detection and flexible integration for different journeys.

Because protecting real people takes more than intent. It takes reliable technology, a fluid experience and security without friction.