With two big ticket sporting spectacles set to make their way to the country—the 2014 soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympics—the spotlight is firmly trained on Brazil as it readies itself to welcome the world.
As the fifth largest country in the world, it is also one of the major developing economies and is finding a voice in many international forums.
But as Brazil marches on the path of economic development, the growing voice of civil society is raising the red flag on a number of government initiatives, including surveillance programs—privacy and civil liberties are at the heart of the debate. Measures aimed at better governance and increased regulations have raised several questions about data security and the protection of personal information.
Brazil’s constitution makes it clear that an individual can expect a right to privacy. It also provides for protection of electronic communications, which can only be accessed by the government after having demonstrated a need for the information during the course of an investigation.
Habeas data is a constitutional tool that was first implemented in Brazil. It allows for an individual to seek details about their information that is held in public databases and they can even correct it. But importantly, it doesn’t allow for the individual to seek the destruction of the data held in the databases.
With an eye toward addressing privacy fears and the issues raised by activists worried about the overreaching influence of the government, two key measures are making their way through the Brazilian legislative process:
- Data Protection Bill: Brazil may implement the law this year offering protection to personal data based on stricter European standards. While the bill has been drafted keeping in mind consumer privacy, it also puts in place a number of restrictions on how personal data is collected and used by the government.
- Marco Civil: This law is aimed at providing rights for the internet user. With nearly 80 million internet users, Brazil is the fastest growing internet market in the region. Marco civil has been touted as a progressive law that takes into account issues of privacy and limits government interference. For instance, interception of internet communications can only take place during criminal investigations. But there are still some sticking points in the draft bill, especially the data retention provision that requires Internet Service Providers to retain connection logs for a specified period of time.
One of the major concerns of activists in Brazil has been the issue of data breaches. It has led to a number of people being wary of personal information held in government databases. This has even led to questions about programs such as the National Identity Register, which has been developed with the aim of economic empowerment.
The government is also moving ahead with plans to place RFID chips with GPS trackers in every car, ostensibly for reasons of safety and security. The idea, and various other surveillance mechanisms, has been proposed for controlling crime.
The argument finds very little support in the blogging sphere, where many people have been vocal in their criticism of the government.
Perhaps as a reactionary measure, Brazil has taken a novel step to formulate new bills dealing with privacy in the public sphere. Civil society has been given a chance to dive into the bill formulation process, with everyone invited to make suggestions during the formulation of draft legislation.
Ultimately, however, any new measures will have to be approved by the legislature and are likely to undergo changes before they are finally adopted.
Brazil Constitution
Brazil Habeas Data
