Public Consultations For The Regulation Of The Brazilian Internet Law (Marco Civil Da Internet) And For The Approval Of The Data Protection Bill Of Law

On January 28, 2015, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice launched two public debates that are directly linked to the use of the Internet and to the protection of personal data: Law No. 12.965/2014 (the "Internet Law") which will be further regulated by a Decree-Law and the Data Protection Bill of Law (PL No. 181/14). Initially, public debates will remain open until February 26, 2015, but the deadline may be extended. Interested parties may provide opinions through the web portals available or directly through Twitter and Facebook.

The Internet Law addressed certain matters that would be subject to further regulation. Thus, the public consultation has been divided into four niches:

Net neutrality Privacy online Logs retention Other issues and considerations Net Neutrality - Free Internet

Article 9 of the Internet Law deals with net neutrality, which provides fair treatment within network traffic data packets, regardless of their content, origin and destination, service, terminal or application. The law has brought the concept of neutrality, but left the limits of the exceptions to such concept to be further regulated. Thus, this niche aims at discussing the specific exceptions to the neutrality principle, limited to technical requirements for the proper provision of services and applications, as well as prioritization of emergency services.

The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI) and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) will be consulted for the regulation of exceptions. The CGI, responsible for establishing strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the Internet in Brazil, extended the deadline of the Contributions Call for regulation of the Internet Law until February 20, 2015. Also, according to information provided by Anatel, the agency also intends to organize a public consultation on the net neutrality principle and has already set up working groups to discuss occasional exceptions to the principle.

Privacy Online

The Internet Law contains certain provisions which intend to ensure the privacy of internet users and to protect personal data. However, the Internet Law generally ensures privacy rights to internet users and, thus, this niche of the consultation aims at clarifying the law's principles and rules, as well as the safety procedures and transparency which shall be specified thereunder. The discussion should permeate attempts for balancing an appropriate degree of protection, since strict safety...