Tech Roundup: Ten years of the Access to Information Law

Welcome to our Tech Roundup. In this week’s feature, we explore Brazil’s Access to Information Law, which is ten years old this week, and why it is at risk of being gutted by the Bolsonaro government.

Access to Information Law turns ten under government attacks

This week, Brazil’s Access to Information Law (LAI) turned ten years old. Of extreme importance for the Brazilian public administration, the law created a structure of transparency that allowed contact between citizens and the State in a variety of ways. However, experts say the legislation is now at risk of being neutered by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

How it works. The law determined that information collected and produced by the State or by institutions of public interest can only be kept confidential in exceptional cases. Even then, secrecy must always be justified and temporary. 

• Data can remain confidential from the public for between five and 25 years, and can be renewed if there is a good reason to do so.
• Furthermore, the State not only has the obligation to guarantee that...