As is commonly known, Brazil is historically a country marked by an excess of Laws, whether at the federal, state or municipal level, which are created to regulate the relations between individuals and between them and the State, which sometimes results in conflicts between the various rules enacted.
In this scenario, the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) and the Access to Information Law (LAI) are two important laws in the Brazilian context, however, some state that they may conflict in certain situations.
LGPD, as it is usually mentioned, was created to protect the privacy and personal data of individuals, establishing rules for the collection, storage, processing, and sharing of this information, providing that it seeks to guarantee the right to privacy and control the use of personal data by organizations, including government entities.
In turn, LAI, an abbreviation also used by operators, is targeted at safeguarding access to information by citizens, allowing transparency and social control, with the fundamental premise that anyone has the right to request information from public agencies, except for some exceptions.
In such case, the conflict between LGPD and LAI may occur when a request for access to information involves personal data of third parties, insofar as it establishes that their handling shall be performed in a legal, legitimate, and transparent fashion, grounded on one of the legal provisions in the Law. LAI provides for the disclosure of information in the public interest, including those that may contain personal data.
In these situations, rights need to be balanced. LAI, in this case, must prevail when the public interest in the disclosure of information is superior to the protection of personal data.
Nonetheless, it is necessary to ensure that disclosure does not breach the principles and rights encompassed by LGPD, so that it is of paramount importance that public agencies adopt measures to anonymize or pseudonymize personal data, when possible, in order to minimize the risk of exposure of restricted information.
By way of illustration, let us see a graph (available at the link below) that demonstrates well the denials rendered by Government Agencies based on LGPD between 2019 and 2021:
As it turns out, LGDP has been an important tool to protect relevant information and data of Brazilian citizens and institutions, so that any conflicts with other rules should not hinder its consolidation as a legal instrument in our Legal System.
In short, it is imperative that there is a balance between the right to privacy, as well as between the right and information, which implies that public agencies should act in keeping with the rules of both laws, always seeking to ensure the protection of personal data, except in the cases where disclosure is required to meet the legitimate public interest.
Available at: https://br.lexlatin.com/opiniao/do-possivel-conflito-entre-lei-geral-de-protecao-de-dados-e-lei-de-acesso-informacao
Autor: Edyen Valente Calepis • email: edyen@ernestoborges.com.br • Tel.: +55 67 3389 0123
