The International Association of Consumer Law (IACL) will hold a session on the Future of International Consumer Law in Times of Technology on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at 14:00, in Fortaleza, Brazil. The session is part of the XVIII Brazilian Congress of Consumer Law (XVIII Congresso Brasileiro de Direito do Consumidor), organized by the Brazilian Institute of Consumer Policy and Law (Brasilcon) at the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR) from November 17 to 19.
The IACL session is organized by Professor Claudia Lima Marques of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), former President of both the IACL and Brasilcon, in partnership with Brasilcon.
IACL Session
Future of International Consumer Law in Times of Technology
- Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2026
- Time: 14:00 Fortaleza time (UTC−3)
- Venue: University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
- Organizer: Professor Claudia Lima Marques (UFRGS), in partnership with Brasilcon
About the Congress
The XVIII Brazilian Congress of Consumer Law will be held primarily in person. Over three days, the program includes keynote lectures, concurrent thematic panels, sessions for original scholarly work, and institutional activities.
The program reflects how complex and cross-cutting the challenges facing consumer protection have become. It includes panels on:
- private health care and health plans
- air transport
- banking fraud
- over-indebtedness
- digital platforms
- algorithmic advertising
- the use of personal data
- online betting
- the digital economy
- sustainable consumption
- open banking
- 5G and new technological infrastructures
The range of these topics shows that consumer protection today cannot be approached sector by sector or in isolation. It requires coordination among law, technology, economics, public policy, and institutional governance.
Brasilcon is a nationwide, multidisciplinary, non-profit, and non-partisan civil association. It was founded in 1992 in Canela, Rio Grande do Sul, and has a scientific, technical, and educational mission. Since then it has organized, supported, or taken part in more than a hundred events, congresses, and seminars on consumer issues.
Venue
All sessions except the official opening take place at the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), Avenida Washington Soares, 1321, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
The official opening ceremony on November 17 will take place at the Auditorium of the Procuradoria-Geral de Justiça, Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Ceará (MPCE).
Registration
Registration for the Congress is open.
Program
All times are Fortaleza local time (UTC−3). Panels are grouped under five thematic axes:
- M1 Constitution, Consumer Protection Code, and the Justice System
- M2 Algorithms, Platforms, and Digital Power
- M3 Humanism, Anti-Racism, and Vulnerabilization
- M4 Regulation, Credit, and Essential Services
- M5 Future, Environment, and Research
XVIII Brazilian Congress of Consumer Law: Program
All times are Fortaleza local time (UTC−3).
| Time | Format | Session | Axis |
| Monday, November 16 (Pre-Congress) | |||
| 09:00–17:00 | Institutional | Meeting of the National Consumer Protection System (SNDC), organized by the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon/MJSP) with support from Brasilcon | |
| 12:00–14:00 | Break | Lunch | |
| 14:00–17:00 | Institutional | Successful Practices Competition: presentation and certification of selected initiatives | |
| Tuesday, November 17 | |||
| 09:00 | Institutional | SNDC Meeting, Day 2 | |
| 10:00 | Scholarly | Presentation of independent theses | |
| 14:00 | IACL | IACL Session: Future of International Consumer Law in Times of Technology | |
| 14:00 | Scholarly | Brasilcon Acadêmico presentations (same time, separate room) | |
| 18:00 | Opening | Welcome, registration, and reception (MPCE Auditorium) | |
| 19:00 | Opening | Official opening, presentation of the Ada Pellegrini Grinover Award, and launch of two e-books: SNDC technical notes and Brasilcon's work as amicus curiae | |
| 19:30 | Keynote | Opening lecture: Constitution, Algorithms, and Humanism | |
| Wednesday, November 18 | |||
| 09:00 | Arrival | Welcome | |
| 09:30–10:30 | Plenary | Precedents and Consumer Law: Superior Court of Justice (STJ) Theme 1,396 as a Reference Case | M1 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | Freedom of Choice in the Age of Big Data | M2 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | Digital Illness and Neurodivergence | M3 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | Consumer Contracts and Civil Contracts | M1 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | Health, Risk Markets, and Service Effectiveness | M4 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | Environment, Consumption, and the Future | M5 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | Structural Racism in Consumer Relations | M3 |
| 13:15–14:30 | Break | Lunch | |
| 14:30–15:30 | Plenary | Information Asymmetry, Trust, and Efficiency | M2 |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | E-Commerce, Digital Platforms, and Marketplaces | M2 |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | Women Consumers | M3 |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | Banking Fraud and Electronic Contracting | M4 |
| 16:45–17:00 | Break | Coffee break | |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Consumer Education | M5 |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Civil Code Reform | M1 |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Credit Databases in the Age of AI | M2 |
| 18:15–19:15 | Plenary | Abusive Litigation and Reverse Abusive Litigation | M3 |
| Thursday, November 19 | |||
| 09:00 | Arrival | Welcome | |
| 09:30–10:30 | Plenary | Contemporary Challenges and Dialogues in Academic Research in Consumer Law | M5 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | Unbranded Fuel Pumps ("Bomba Branca") and Brand Consistency at Service Stations | M4 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | Federal Supreme Court (STF) Theme 1,417: Beyond Air Transport | M1 |
| 10:45–12:00 | Concurrent | The 2027 Women's World Cup and Major Events | M4 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | Consumer Civil Procedure | M1 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | Advertising, Conversational AI, and Manipulation | M2 |
| 12:00–13:15 | Concurrent | ESG and Environmental Racism | M3 |
| 13:15–14:30 | Break | Lunch | |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | Ombudsman Offices and Consumer Protection | M1 |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | Online Betting and Social Vulnerabilization | M4 |
| 15:30–16:45 | Concurrent | Older Consumers and Over-Indebtedness | M3 |
| 16:45–17:00 | Break | Coffee break and book launches | |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Aggravated Vulnerability of Children and Adolescents | M3 |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Regulation, Connectivity, and Protection | M4 |
| 17:00–18:15 | Concurrent | Consumers with Disabilities | M3 |
| 18:15–19:15 | Plenary | The Indispensability of the SNDC | M1 |
| 18:15–19:00 | Keynote | Closing lecture (virtual): The Person Traversed by Consumption and the Constitutional Challenge of Solidarity | |
| 19:00–19:45 | Closing | Reading of the Fortaleza Charter (Carta de Fortaleza) and presentation of the Ada Pellegrini Grinover Award | |