On June 16, 2022, Provisional Measure 1.124/2022 transformed Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados/ANPD) into a special agency – a measure that grants it greater autonomy and protection against political interventions.
Previously, the ANPD’s status was that of a body under the Brazilian Presidency, leading experts to compare it to a type of ministry, in view of its little administrative autonomy.
An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report published in 2020 had already highlighted that the ANPD was not autonomous: “Independence may not be fully achieved, under the terms of Article 55-A of Law 13.853, if the ANPD: is a federal public administration body; belongs to the Presidency of the Republic; (...); does not possess a guaranteed budget in the national annual budget.”
Presently, following the presentation of the Accession Roadmap – a document that marks the beginning of Brazil’s entry into the OECD – last week (June 10, 2022), compliance with good practices in terms of privacy and protection of personal data become even more important, as has the effective independence of this regulatory authority.
With this new measure, the agency is expected to be able to effectively carry out its full legal functions. Considering that, as established in Brazil’s General Data Protection Law (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados/LGPD), processing of personal data by public authorities must also be subject to regulation and inspection – attributions of the ANPD –, its new legal status promises to avoid conflicts of interest as well as interference by other public authorities.
If you need more information or would like to obtain legal advice in order to better comply with privacy and personal data protection laws and regulations, please contact our team of experts at BTLAW.
