How to prepare for the General Data Protection Law
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2025 8:05 am
Personal data is an extremely valuable asset. However, given the high consumption of digital platforms, in particular, concerns about protecting information are becoming increasingly less important. Every day, users provide their data without being aware of and, most importantly, controlling what is done with it. It was only after recent scandals involving the leaking of personal information by large companies, such as Facebook, that several countries began to discuss and accelerate the process of creating laws to protect their citizens' personal data.
In Brazil, the topic has not yet been widely explored. Inspired by the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in 2018 the Brazilian parliament approved law 13.709/18 , which creates the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The measure, whose main objective is precisely to guarantee the protection of personal data and offer japan mobile database society greater control over the information that the public and private sectors store about it, will have major impacts on all companies that establish any business in the Brazilian market or collect information from residents in the country – since its application is not restricted to the geographic limits of Brazil.
The LGPD defines personal data as any information capable of identifying or making a person identifiable – whether data considered basic, such as name, telephone number and address, or sensitive data, which, due to its nature, may cause embarrassment or discrimination, such as data related to racial or ethnic origin, political position and religion. Therefore, in view of this new scenario, companies face a major challenge: the processing and protection of personal information throughout their entire chain of operations, that is, it will be necessary to adapt systems for processing data at all stages; from collection to its elimination.
Impacts and the step-by-step guide to adaptation
Lawyer Ricardo Maffeis
Lawyer Ricardo Maffeis
For Ricardo Maffeis , lawyer, consultant in the Digital Litigation area at Opice Blum, Bruno, Abrusio e Vainzof Advogados, member of the Center for Advanced Process Studies (Ceapro) and the Artificial Intelligence Studies Committee of the São Paulo Lawyers Institute (IASP), the impact on companies will be significant, as they – as organizations that store people's data – will now have the obligation to store it securely, always for the benefit of the citizen. “At first glance, one might think of financial impacts, but it is certain that companies that are prepared will have a competitive advantage (confidentiality and external respect) over their competitors that have not yet adapted to the new law,” he states.
In Brazil, the topic has not yet been widely explored. Inspired by the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in 2018 the Brazilian parliament approved law 13.709/18 , which creates the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The measure, whose main objective is precisely to guarantee the protection of personal data and offer japan mobile database society greater control over the information that the public and private sectors store about it, will have major impacts on all companies that establish any business in the Brazilian market or collect information from residents in the country – since its application is not restricted to the geographic limits of Brazil.
The LGPD defines personal data as any information capable of identifying or making a person identifiable – whether data considered basic, such as name, telephone number and address, or sensitive data, which, due to its nature, may cause embarrassment or discrimination, such as data related to racial or ethnic origin, political position and religion. Therefore, in view of this new scenario, companies face a major challenge: the processing and protection of personal information throughout their entire chain of operations, that is, it will be necessary to adapt systems for processing data at all stages; from collection to its elimination.
Impacts and the step-by-step guide to adaptation
Lawyer Ricardo Maffeis
Lawyer Ricardo Maffeis
For Ricardo Maffeis , lawyer, consultant in the Digital Litigation area at Opice Blum, Bruno, Abrusio e Vainzof Advogados, member of the Center for Advanced Process Studies (Ceapro) and the Artificial Intelligence Studies Committee of the São Paulo Lawyers Institute (IASP), the impact on companies will be significant, as they – as organizations that store people's data – will now have the obligation to store it securely, always for the benefit of the citizen. “At first glance, one might think of financial impacts, but it is certain that companies that are prepared will have a competitive advantage (confidentiality and external respect) over their competitors that have not yet adapted to the new law,” he states.