Brazil Senate passes constitutional amendment making data protection a fundamental right

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the Chamber, deputies added a section that assigns to the federal government the duty to organize and supervise the protection and processing of personal data. The bill’s rapporteur in the Senate, Simone Tebet, maintained the change.

“The right to privacy is in the Constitution. We needed to include the right to privacy of our personal data, including by digital means, as a constitutional precept. This is exactly what the PEC is about,” Simone said in the plenary session.

“We are behind (in this matter) by at least two decades in relation to Europe and to Latin American countries like Chile. In these difficult times of fraud, in which citizens are afraid to disclose their personal information and data because they fear digital scams, I believe that there will be no objection from colleagues,” she added.

The PEC adds a provision to the Constitution’s Article 5, which lists individual and collective rights, saying that “the right to the protection of personal data is ensured, under the terms of the law, including in digital media.”

“The measure is timely and of great relevance considering the historical evolution of society itself in the so-called Information Age. Thus, we understand the need to value the right to the protection of personal data in relation to privacy, which warrants ensuring its constitutional status,” stressed PSD leader Nelsinho Trad.

The matter was unanimously passed in a symbolic vote. To expedite proceedings, legislators also agreed to pass the two voting rounds in succession, on the same night.

The General Law for Personal Data Protection (LGPD) has been in force since September last year, requiring companies and public and private agencies to implement a number of measures to prevent citizens from having their data leaked.

According to LGPD, personal data is all “information related to an identified or identifiable natural person,” such as name, address, telephone number, banking information, and document numbers.

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