Brazil has passed a new child protection law – the ECA Digital. The law requires online services likely to be used by children to build in protections for privacy, safety, and children’s best interests by default, including banning profiling and behavioral advertising targeting kids. It takes effect in March 2026 and includes penalties for non-compliance, such as fines (up to 50 million reais or 10% of revenue in Brazil), suspension or bans, and is being enforced by Brazil’s data protection authority.
Tech Policy published a piece arguing that recent Supreme Court rulings erode longstanding protections by allowing states to impose age-verification mandates online, thereby undermining users’ First Amendment rights and privacy. The piece claims that requiring individuals to submit personal identifiers to access content risks surveillance, data exposure, and chilling effects on online speech for both minors and adults.
The United Kingdom rolled out their proposal for a digital ID. The plans faced criticism from across the political spectrum. The proposal has been pushed by the Tony Blair Institute, who is funded almost exclusively by Oracle.
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay allowing President Trump’s removal of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and agreed to review the FTC’s structure under the separation-of-powers doctrine. Slaughter, dismissed in March 2025 along with Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, had been reinstated by the D.C. Circuit based on Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935), which upheld “for-cause” protections for FTC commissioners.
The Supreme Court’s stay blocks her return while it considers whether those protections are constitutional and whether Humphrey’s Executor should be overruled.The outcome could significantly alter the FTC’s independence and its role in privacy and consumer protection enforcement. A ruling narrowing removal protections would weaken the agency’s autonomy, while affirming them would preserve its authority. For privacy law, the decision introduces major uncertainty for ongoing and future FTC enforcement actions
(Compiled by Anthony Perrins)