President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the measure into law last week, framing it as a necessary tool to protect children.
However, embedded in the policy is a requirement for platforms to verify the age of all users through mechanisms that extend beyond self-declared age confirmation.
Called the “Adultization Bill” or “Digital ECA,” the law will take effect in 180 days and applies to social media, online games, and other digital services.
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But the most far-reaching element is the obligation for all platforms to adopt age checks that regulators are still defining. This opens the door to digital ID systems that would permanently tie users’ online activity to their real-world identity.
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Even the average citizen that have mediocre education is bound to catch on the deceitful nature with which governments around the world are trying to erase privacy and increase surveillance that will absolutely impact everyone for the worse. I can only yell so much from rooftops to spread awareness.
Governments speed running enshittification of life itself. What a time to be alive.
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The problem is most people already know. Pretty much no one likes that Facebook & the other giants grab their data. People know that is is happening, but they don’t fight back, because it doesn’t seem like it will really affect them.
Most people take their rights for granted, and that’s the main issue that most haven’t realized is at stake.
And this comes back to a couple of comments I made earlier, the West is in for a reckoning because they don’t know how good they have it compared to the rest of the world.
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Whenever news like this makes me sad, I choose to throw it into the furnace of fury in my heart. There are several times where I take action and it is fueled by anger at the harmful decisions governments and companies are making. It makes me act with urgency.
I wish I had your optimism. The overwhelming majority of the world has a national identity scheme. And for most countries that have a national identity scheme, it is compulsory. I am doubtful that the countries that have been used to national identity schemes for decades would show strong resistance, if any, to digital ID cards. Especially if it’s compulsory where they are and especially in the Global South.
The fact that those countries don’t question national identity cards in the first place is alarming. I don’t think any of them would be open to get rid of it because they are used to it, and they don’t appreciate the privacy issues related to its implementation. It’s also likely not a priority for them when it comes to their life and political concerns, especially if they are poor or struggling.
I had this discussion with @KevPham in a different post. To my knowledge, the only country that once had national IDs and then got rid of it is the UK.
They were adopted during WWII as an emergency measure, but then they got rid of it in 1952 because people saw it as invasive. But that was in the middle of the 20th century. It would be extremely difficult to get rid of national IDs in the 21st century, as there are so many challenges.
I would love to be proven wrong, but I’m extremely skeptical.
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Switzerland just voted to adopt digital IDs. Things are looking bleak!
When I said
I never explicitly said those folks with mediocre education will realize this before its too late to go back. But the reckoning will happen no matter what. It’s as inevitable as the sun rising tomorrow wherever you live.
I’m not convinced education is the only or even the primary factor that prevents people from understanding the issues. Lots of highly educated people are not moved by privacy issues, just like lots of highly educated people are not moved by other very important issues on which they are on the wrong side of.
But yeah, we should fight this before the great reckoning, which as far as I’m concerned, is already in process.
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That’s because these folks always have an agenda that is almost always going to benefit them financially - and hence do not care for the sanctity of basic but important rights and issues like privacy.
I don’t think most people necessarily see a benefit. I think it’s because they don’t see any loss. Benefits and losses are the flip sides of the same coin, anyway. Some will realize too late that it’s a bad idea. For many of us, as long as bad things happens to others, we don’t think it could happen to us, hence we do nothing, which is really sad.
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