Tech Roundup: The importance of a national data council

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You’re reading The Brazilian Report’s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: important progress made in Brazilian data protection regulation, how Latin Americans shop online, and Central Bank launches open banking privacy rules

Regulator takes big step toward assembling national data privacy council

This week, Brazilian data protection regulator ANPD announced a shortlist of 122 candidates to join the National Data Protection Council. This consultative body will be tasked with providing input on the ANPD board’s decisions, helping to create a data privacy culture in Brazilian society, and — most importantly — carrying out studies on the data protection situation in the country.

How the process works. The nominees were put forward by research centers, business associations, unions, and other civil society organizations. There are 13 seats available in total, split into five categories of representation. The ANPD will then select three nominees per category and President Jair Bolsonaro will make the final appointment decision.

The future of the council. To understand the roles and responsibilities of Brazil’s upcoming data privacy council members, we reached out to lawyer Ana Paula Bialer, nominated for a seat on the council by seven organizations. See the highlights from our interview below:

Question.ANPD has a long list of regulations to establish in the next couple of years. What would be your priority as a member of the Data Protection Council?

Answer.The council works as a consulting body, informing the board's decisions. That being said, the board has an amazing opportunity to use the National Data Protection Council as an operational tool. ANPD does not have many employees, so it is difficult to analyze all the topics that need regulation. I think the council is in a very good position to observe international debates, analyze issues regarding the interoperability of legislation, carry out research and public hearings....

Natália Scalzaretto and Ana Ferraz

Natália Scalzaretto has worked for companies such as Santander Brasil and Reuters, where she covered news ranging from commodities to technology. Before joining The Brazilian Report, she worked as an editor for Trading News, the information division from the TradersClub investor community.