Tech Roundup: Data privacy as a basic human right

You’re reading The Brazilian Report‘s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the main pieces of news regarding technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: Data privacy, automation, cryptocurrencies, and more. Happy reading!

Data privacy: a basic right?

The Brazilian Senate approved a constitutional amendment which would make personal data protection a basic human right in the country. If the bill now passes in the House of Representatives, only the federal government will be able to legislate on data treatment and protection.

This piece of legislation falls in line with a larger move towards giving citizens more data privacy. In August 2018, Brazil passed its General Data Protection Law, modeled after the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The law gives citizens more control over their own data and imposes a series of obligations on companies which hold personal information of their clients.

In the case of a breach, fines can go up to BRL 50 million (or 2 percent of the company’s gross revenue, whichever is the largest). By transforming data privacy into a basic right, lawmakers give citizens even more legal tools to counter companies illegally using their information.

More restrictive laws, however, call into question many practices that until now have been considered industry standard. For example, will Google’s new Wi-Fi stations in São Paulo be allowed to collect phone numbers, as planned? 

• Go deeper: Data privacy — How to prepare for Brazil’s new Data Protection Law

Cashierless stores arriving in Brazil

GPA S.A., the parent company of supermarket chain Pão de Açúcar, has teamed up with Microsoft to open cashierless stores in the country. Going beyond self-checkout machines, these mostly automated supermarkets would incorporate cellular apps and lockable containers for a technologically advanced grocery store...