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Enactment of PEC 17/2019 makes the right to personal data protection constitutional, including in digital media
The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution 17/2019 was promulgated today in a session of the National Congress. As it is a constitutional norm, its applicability is immediate. From now on, the protection of personal data, including in digital media, becomes part of the fundamental rights set out in Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
It also establishes the Union's private (i.e. exclusive) competence to organize, supervise and legislate on the matter, preventing, for example, state legislatures - and/or municipal councils - from creating their own personal data protection legislation that could directly conflict with federal law. This scenario of conflict with federal legislation is negative for the country because it brings legal uncertainty, which jeopardizes productive investments, even discouraging the opening of startups, and causes business retraction, discouraging job creation.
A PEC 17/2019 was approved by the Federal Senate on October 20, after its regular processing in the Chamber of Deputies was completed. Its enactment is yet another victory for the protection of personal data, especially for data subjects, whose rights are now protected through the LGPD (General Personal Data Protection Law), which came into force in September 2020.
This is an achievement for all economic sectors as it consolidates the protection of personal data in Brazil. Guaranteeing legal certainty at a national level is essential for business development, as the existence of different laws dealing with the same subject in different ways leads to higher costs and weakens investments in the productive sector. The protection of personal data as a fundamental right now appears alongside the right to privacy in the Constitution, which strengthens the regulatory framework around these issues,” says Elias Sfeir, president of ANBC (National Association of Credit Bureaus).
“In addition, with this constitutional provision and the LGPD in force since 2020, Brazil is among the most advanced countries in the world in terms of recognizing the right to the protection of personal data,” Sfeir concludes.
